TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Imagine this: Your driver’s license suddenly disappears from the DMV database. Next thing you know, you're pulled over and arrested for driving without a valid license.
Immigration attorney Matt Green says that kind of fear is what many international students live with as they face the possibility of deportation after the terminations of their student visas and federal student immigration records.
“This has been a terrifying experience for our clients and for many international students around the country,” Green said.
Green, along with fellow attorney Jesse Evans-Schroeder, represents 13 university students in Arizona — a mix of undergraduate and graduate students — who have filed three separate lawsuits against the Trump administration for "abruptly and unlawfully" terminating the student visas that allow them to remain and study in the United States.
Their lawsuits came after their F-1 student visas—and federal student immigration records, also known as SEVIS records—were suddenly revoked in the last month.
The F-1 is a nonimmigrant visa that allows international students to study in the United States.
The students in Arizona are part of more than 1,200 international students at U.S. colleges, universities, and university systems who have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated since late March.
Green explained that the recent influx of F-1 student visa and SEVIS record terminations goes against the status quo.
He said that for at least 25 years, U.S. immigration policy has allowed students whose F-1 visas were revoked to remain in the U.S. if their SEVIS record was not terminated, and as long as they didn't leave the country or commit a serious crime.
"They can still stay here and pursue their course of study, finish, graduate, get their degree, so long as they don't leave the United States and don't do something else to make themselves independently deportable," Green said.
However, he noted that many of the students he's consulted with, including his own clients, don’t have criminal convictions and, in some cases, have never even faced formal charges.
Green said it was unprecedented for ICE to also terminate the students' SEVIS accounts.
"That's just not something that we had ever seen ICE do," Green said. "That's something typically that the university officials will do."
He explained that the SEVIS account is essential for an international student's ability to stay in the U.S. and study. The process starts when a university accepts the student and applies for a Form I-20 through SEVIS. The student must then present the I-20 at their local U.S. consulate to apply for a visa, which the Department of State can issue only if the I-20 has been approved in SEVIS.
"So this was all very novel. This was all very strange and new," Green said. "This is the functional equivalent of just killing the environment in which that I-20 form lives, which makes it virtually impossible for an international student to maintain their lawful student visa status."
One of the students has already received a temporary restraining order, which protects her from arrest, detention, or being forced to leave Arizona, according to a federal court filing. The order also allows her to go by a pseudonym.
“Our client is very concerned and afraid of harassment and potential retaliation, not just from the government, but potentially from third parties,” Green said. "Unfortunately, in the country we’re living in right now, immigration is a very contentious and hot-button issue, and there’s a real concern about abuse of our clients if their identities are known."
In response to court challenges across the country, the U.S. government is reversing the termination of legal status for international students, federal officials said Friday.
As of Friday night, Green told KGUN 9 his clients had not yet gotten their federal student immigration records restored.
Green said the terminations have disrupted his clients' education—delaying graduations and forcing some students to attend classes remotely because they’re too afraid to step foot on campus.
Despite reinstatement efforts, Green says key questions remain for students whose F-1 visas and immigration records were suddenly terminated.
"We still do not know to what extent these students are going to be able to continue with their education with no interruption, with no obstacles that didn't exist before. We have no idea if they're going to be able to continue to enjoy the potential postgraduate opportunities," Green said, referring to Optional Practical Training (OPT), a 12-month work authorization program for international students.
“I can tell you that at least one of our clients already had a job offer that was revoked because of the uncertainty,” he said.
He questioned what will happen to students working for postgraduate employers who remain connected to their universities through the I-20 forms that helped them obtain their F-1 visas. He also said it remains to be seen whether the U.S. government will issue new F-1 visas for students who left the country out of fear and now hope to return.
"There's a lot of unknowns, there's a lot of confusion and quite frankly in the courts of law, including in here in Arizona, in our own cases," he said.
For now, Green said, it’s a waiting game.
“Because we have never, you know, repaired this kind of damage before, we really don’t know what it’s going to take,” he said.
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Maria Staubs joined KGUN 9 as a multimedia journalist and producer in July of 2024. Her passion for writing and storytelling stems from anchoring her middle school’s news show and editing her high school’s yearbook. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communication with a minor in film and media production, as well as a master's degree in mass communication. You can email Maria at maria.staubs@kgun9.com or reach out to her on X/Twitter or Instagram.
