Irrespective of her clients’ histories, Dougherty says that none of these offenses and case outcomes provide legal grounds for SEVIS-related removals.
Four international students at the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, claiming that its decision to terminate their legal status based on resolved criminal cases was unlawful and intended to coerce them into leaving the country voluntarily.
According to The Texas Tribune, the plaintiffs named in the case include two doctoral candidates with the University of Texas physics department, Hugo Adrian Villar Castellanos of Mexico and Shishir Timilsena of Nepal. Another of the plaintiffs, Amir Gholami, is a doctoral student from Iran, while the last, Julio Dylan Sanchez Wong, is an undergraduate computer science student and Mexican national.
The four students are among more than 1,000 international students nationwide whose legal statuses have been revoked, typically unexpectedly and without any warning. In many cases, the students’ visas were not immediately invalidated but instead marked as “terminated” in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) database.
Immigration attorneys told the Texas Tribune that being marked as “terminated” in SEVIS can have much more immediate consequences than having a visa revoked. While visa revocations can prevent students who leave the United States from re-entering, removals related to SEVIS can sabotage employment prospects. Oftentimes, they are more difficult to appeal, too.
“If ICE believes a student is deportable for having a criminal record or a revoked visa, it has the authority to initiate removal proceedings and make its case in immigration court,” said attorney Marlene Dougherty, an attorney representing the four students. “It cannot, however, misuse SEVIS to circumvent the law, strip students of their status, and drive them out of the country without process.”
The lawsuit indicates that all four of the students were either charged with or convicted of non-violent offenses. These convictions range in severity from public intoxication and failing to yield the right of way to domestic assault and driving under the influence.
Some of the students claim that their charges were either dismissed or expunged.
Wong, for instance, was convicted of driving while under the influence of alcohol; however, his conviction was dismissed after he completed a pre-trial diversion program.
Another of the plaintiffs, Timilsena, was charged with “intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causing bodily injury” to his wife, but the case was late dismissed upon the prosecution’s request. Consequently, Timilsena was never convicted of a crime.
Gholami, similar, has been charged with preventing or interfering with the ability to place an emergency call, a low-grade misdemeanor; he has not yet been convicted.
Irrespective of her clients’ histories, Dougherty says that none of these offenses and case outcomes provide legal grounds for SEVIS-related removals. The Department of Homeland Security, Dougherty claims, is actively violating the Administrative Procedure Act by terminating students’ legal statuses without following proper procedures or providing coherent reasons.
“All of the plaintiffs are valued by the university, which desires for them to be continue to be enrolled in school,” Dougherty wrote in the lawsuit. “However, the plaintiffs’ ability to do so is in jeopardy.”
Sources
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley students sue DHS, Kristi Noem over visa revocations
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