Hundreds of international students stripped of US visas without warning

US President Donald Trump’s administration has revoked visas for more than 500 international students, faculty and researchers around the country in recent weeks, amidst the continuation of the immigration crackdown, CNN writes.

The revocations have triggered legal action, with a prominent Atlanta-based immigration law firm, Kuck Baxter, filing a federal lawsuit on behalf of affected students.

The initial lawsuit, filed last week, included 17 international students and has since expanded to 133 individuals, with more expected to be added. A modified complaint was submitted late Tuesday night to the same federal court, reflecting the growing scope of the legal challenge.

According to court filings obtained by CNN, the students—who are not identified by name but by pseudonyms “due to fear of retaliation by Defendants”—allege that the U.S. government abruptly and unlawfully terminated their legal status. The defendants named in the lawsuit are U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons.

“The government has stripped these students of their ability to pursue their studies and maintain lawful employment in the United States, while also putting them at risk of arrest, detention, and deportation,” said Dustin Baxter, one of the filing attorneys.

The complaint states that ICE removed the students from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a key database maintained by the Department of Homeland Security to track the visa status of foreign students in the U.S. This action effectively nullified the students’ legal standing in the country.

Of the original 17 plaintiffs, nine are citizens of India and five are from China. The remaining three come from Colombia, Mexico, and Japan. The complaint outlines details for each case, including the university attended, county of residence, and the suspected reason for visa termination.

“This is not only unjust—it’s disruptive to the lives of hard-working, law-abiding students and researchers who have come to the U.S. in good faith,” said a spokesperson for Kuck Baxter.

As the case develops, the legal team has filed a motion for a temporary restraining order, seeking to prevent further removals and reinstate the students’ status until the matter is resolved in court.

The Trump administration has not yet commented publicly on the lawsuit or provided specific reasons for the visa revocations. Critics argue the move is part of a pattern of restrictive immigration policies that have disproportionately affected international communities and institutions of higher education.

The case is expected to set a major precedent on how far the federal government can go in revoking visas without due process and may significantly impact the future of international education in the United States.

By Khagan Isayev