New York: A US federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from deporting a 21-year-old Indian student whose visa was revoked just weeks before his graduation.
Krish Lal Isserdasani, an engineering student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was protected by an April 15 court order that barred the Department of Homeland Security from revoking his student visa or detaining him. He was set to graduate with a bachelor's degree in computer engineering in early May.
His student visa was cancelled on April 4.
The request for a temporary restraining order was brought by Madison attorney Shabnam Lotfi after Isserdasani's record was terminated in the government's Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVIS) database, the report added.
"He was given no warning, no opportunity to explain or defend himself, and no chance to correct any potential misunderstanding before his F-1 student visa record was terminated in SEVIS," the order said.
The F1 visa is granted to international students enrolled in academic or English language programmes at U.S. colleges or universities.
According to the court order, Isserdasani was arrested on November 22, 2024, on suspicion of misdemeanour disorderly conduct after he and his friends got into an argument with another group of people after leaving a bar.
Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne declined to charge Isserdasani in the case, and he never appeared in court, the report quoted the order.
Judge William Conley of the Western District of Wisconsin issued the order, noting that Isserdasani was not convicted of any crime and stating that his claim of wrongful visa termination had a "reasonable likelihood of success" in the courts. He scheduled a preliminary injunction hearing for April 28.
Lotfi said that the order is believed to be one of the first national victories for international student visa holders whose records were terminated. About 1,300 students nationwide have seen their SEVIS records terminated abruptly.
"We're grateful that the rule of law and justice have prevailed," Lotfi's colleague, Veronica Sustic, said in an e-mail to the paper.
"The government has not provided any legal authority for these unlawful terminations of innocent international students' statuses, and we are pleased that the Court saw that."
(inputs from PTI)