Why many Indian students in US are getting emails asking them to leave

After initially revoking visas of international students over alleged campus activism, US authorities have now started targeting international students who had minor criminal offences and traffic infringements against them.In the past few days, dozens of Indian students in the US have received emails stating that their F-1 student visas are no longer valid and directing them to leave the country immediately. The email cited the students’ past criminal charges, ranging from “shifting lanes” and driving while drunk to shoplifting, as reasons for the visa revocations. TOI was the first to report on March 30 that hundreds of international students in the US had been getting emails asking them to self-deport over campus activism.What the emails say“Termination of SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System — a legal document that stores data of an immigrant and proves their legal status) record means they no longer have valid F-1 non-immigrant status. This means you are no longer allowed to stay in US. Your Form I-20 is no longer valid. Your EAD (employment authorisation document) is no longer valid, & you no longer have work authorisation,” read the email.SEVIS is the web-based information system that the US department of homeland security (DHS) and US immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) use to track and monitor international students during their ‘duration of study’.The email added, “If your visa has been revoked, this means the F-1 visa in your passport is no longer valid. If you are in US, you may need to make plans for immediate departure.” !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}(); The termination of a SEVIS record effectively ends an international student’s F-1 legal status. There is no grace period following a SEVIS termination and consequently the International Student Service Office at an educational institute advises these students to depart the US as soon as possible.Immigration attorneys said students had visas revoked even for something as innocuous as sharing social media posts.Lawyers say reasons for deportation are new While each of the offences can lead to deportation as per homeland security, immigration lawyers in the US say that in the past they seldom resulted in deportation. “Revoking SEVIS for offences like drinking and driving, shifting lanes or over-speeding is extremely rare,” said Chand Paravathneni, an immigration lawyer from Texas who is currently handling around 30 such cases. He said he was flooded with calls from Indian students in the last four days. “Some of these cases involve offences like jumping a traffic signal. All these are petty crimes and are dismissed after following certain formalities. We have hardly seen anyone’s SEVIS being revoked due to such crimes in the past,” Paravathneni added.“We are checking with students to ascertain if they were involved in anything else apart from the cases they have disclosed to us,” the lawyer said. medium120095872Typically, international students can lose their legal status when they break the rules of their visa programs, such as by working in the US when they are not allowed to, or by having their grades fall to the point that they are no longer in good academic standing. Foreign students can also lose their visas if they are considered a public danger.Historically, it has been rare for students to be deported because of expression of views on political subjects. In light of the Trump administration’s actions, college administrators and faculty members have expressed concern about students’ ability to share their opinions without risking their legal status.Students say all legal formalities had been completedSpeaking to TOI, some students from Hyderabad claimed that the offences date to several months ago and that they had completed all related legal formalities. “I got a ticket for over-speeding two years ago in New York. I was driving at a little over 80 mph in a 70 mph zone. I paid a nominal fine and visited a police station, and that was it. I was never arrested,” said a student currently living in Omaha, Nebraska, and working on contract basis under OPT (optional practical training).He completed his master’s in project management from Boston. “While I am not undermining my mistake, it is unfortunate that I am being asked to self-deport for a minor offence, and that too after so long,” the student said. mediumhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdHnNNpGTs4Another student from Hyderabad, currently in Missouri, admitted to being arrested for driving after a few drinks. “I was told not to consume alcohol for a year. An ignition lock was installed in my car, which only starts if I blow into a breathalyser and am sober. I’ve been regularly giving urine tests to police, and all have come back clean,” said the student, now in his final year of a master’s in information technology. He, too, is shaken by the deportation email.“I forgot to scan items worth $144 at Walmart in Delta, Texas, in July 2023,” recalled another Indian student from Austin, Texas. He was arrested for shoplifting. “But they gave me a warning and the case was dismissed within a month on grounds of my good academic performances and because it was my first offence. I followed all instructions and completed all formalities. Why am I being punished again?” he asked.However, lawyers have said that in the past students have rarely appealed against the visas being revoked because the past odds of success were low. Any activity that drew negative attention to a student could also result in scrutiny from immigration or academic officials. Student takes top bureaucrats to courtOne California-based foreign student has filed the first lawsuit in a US district court challenging the move by authorities to abruptly terminate foreign students SEVIS records.The California-based student — referred to as ‘Student Doe #1’(his/her identity has been kept anonymous) filed the lawsuit against Kristi Noem, secretary (DHS) and Todd Lyons, acting director (ICE). The lawsuit challenges the unlawful termination of the plaintiff’s SEVIS record, which effectively strips him/her of the ability to remain a student in the US.“DHS’s policy of unlawfully terminating SEVIS records based on visa revocations appears to be designed to coerce students, including the plaintiff, into abandoning their studies and ‘self-deporting’ despite not violating their legal status. If ICE believes a student is deportable for having a revoked visa, it has the authority to initiate removal proceedings and make its case in court. It cannot, however, misuse SEVIS to circumvent the law, strip students of status, and drive them out of the country without process,” states the lawsuit complaint. mediumhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LTx2OWUen4The plaintiff has submitted that termination of the SEVIS record, is unauthorised and violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Fifth Amendment’s procedural due process requirements. The complaint details the legal framework governing F-1 student status and SEVIS terminations, asserting that the grounds cited by ICE do not provide legal authority for the termination.It has been pointed out that the plaintiff is a student athlete who does not drink alcohol or use illicit drugs. The student is focused on studies and sports. The plaintiff’s only criminal history is a minor misdemeanor non-alcohol related driving conviction.