An MIT student has sued the federal government over its abrupt termination of her international student record in a federal database managed by the Department of Homeland Security.
The student, an MIT senior set to graduate in May, learned her record in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS, was abruptly deleted in early April, putting her at risk of detainment by immigration enforcement agents.
Several dozen international students in Massachusetts, and over a thousand nationwide, had their visas revoked and SEVIS records expunged by the federal government in recent days. The reason behind the moves remain unclear, and federal officials have offered little public explanation.
The MIT student, identified only as “Jane Doe” in the complaint, is challenging her SEVIS record termination in court. Students in other states, including California and New Hampshire, have taken similar steps. A federal judge in New Hampshire last week temporarily restored a doctoral Dartmouth student’s F-1 immigration status.
SEVIS is a database which tracks and maintains records of international students on a visa. A record termination means a student is no longer permitted to stay in the U.S., effectively removing their lawful status and putting them at risk of arrest or deportation.
“It’s very terrifying for her and for all the students,” Kerry Doyle, the MIT student’s attorney, said in an interview. “I don’t understand any rational purpose behind this other than to drive fear into everybody’s hearts and to push people out of the United States.”
“It’s very terrifying for her and for all the students.”
Attorney Kerry Doyle
Students whose SEVIS status is terminated due to a violation must leave the country immediately, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Doyle, however, said students have the right to see a judge and try to get their record reinstated.
“[Students] are getting no notice, no process, no opportunity to understand what’s happening to them,” Doyle said. “Despite what our administration thinks, immigrants and the people in the United States are entitled to due process.”
The MIT student’s suit, filed Friday in Boston federal court, alleges the decision to terminate her SEVIS record was “arbitrary,” “capricious” and “an abuse of discretion” by federal officials. She is seeking an injunction from the judge to order DHS reinstate her SEVIS record within 10 days.
The MIT plaintiff is a citizen of China who is expected to graduate from the school on May 30, according to the complaint. She had planned to stay at MIT to begin a Ph.D. program this fall. Her visa was most recently renewed at the U.S. Embassy in Guangzhou, China in January 2023, the complaint states.
Many of the impacted international students saw their visas revoked and SEVIS status canceled simultaneously. But in the MIT student’s case, her visa was revoked back in October, according to her suit.
That action was triggered, the suit states, from a criminal charge arising from a dispute with a former boyfriend. But that charge was later “deemed unfounded and dismissed without a conviction,” according to the complaint. The student was aware she “would need to process her next F-1 visa at a U.S. Embassy abroad and provide documentation of the dismissal of the charge and court records,” the suit states.
But when it comes to the reason for her SEVIS termination, the suit adds, she was left in the dark.
“Despite maintaining a full course load and complying with the other terms of her F-1 student status, she received no advanced warning or any formal notification from DHS or ICE,” the lawsuit said.
Immigration lawyers interviewed by WBUR say some impacted students have had only minor brushes with the law, such as speeding tickets or charges that were dismissed. Others, they say, have no record of any kind.
In an early April press briefing, a State Department spokeswoman declined to share additional details of individual cases or the number of students visas that had been revoked because of the “fluidity of the situation.” She emphasized that the department revokes visas to “secure our border.”
An ICE spokesman referred queries about the student visa revocations to the State Department, which in turn did not respond to requests for comment.
The MIT student alleges in the complaint she was told her visa termination would not impact her status in the United States and that she could stay in the country as long as her SEVIS record remained active.
But with that record no longer active, the suit states, she faces an uncertain future.
If her status removal is not reversed, according to the lawsuit, the student would experience harm, including “the loss of years of work and substantial economic investment into her degree.”
MIT is not involved in the lawsuit. But in a statement Monday afternoon, a spokeswoman said the school has been “in touch with the student directly” and that university leaders are “extremely concerned that there appears to have been no notice or explanation from the government for the revocation.”
The plaintiff is one of nine MIT students or recent graduates who have had their visas and SEVIS status revoked, the school shared.
MIT President Sally Kornbluth rued the recent developments and impacts it will have on the future of higher education in the U.S.
“The threat of unexpected visa revocations will make it less likely that top talent from around the world will come to the U.S.,” she said in a statement. “That will damage American competitiveness and scientific leadership for years to come.”