NEWARK, NJ — On May 8, 2025, Federal Judge Katharine Sweeney Harden issued a preliminary injunction to protect six international students at Rutgers University after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “unlawfully terminated” their immigration status, according to the ACLU.
The court order, released by the ACLU, prohibits ICE from directly or indirectly “imposing any consequences on the students arising out of ICE’s prior decision to terminate their records.”
“The government terminated our students’ SEVIS records unlawfully, causing unreasonable and unwarranted personal and professional harm without notice or opportunity for meaningful redress,” said Jason C. Hernandez, Managing Attorney of the Rutgers Immigrant Community Assistance Project and Adjunct Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School.
“Critically, this preliminary injunction permits our students to safely return to their research, work, and public lives while we litigate to demand the government comply with its own regulatory and due process requirements,” Hernandez added.
According to the ACLU, the injunction mandates that the government “fully restore the students’ records retroactive to the original date of termination” and prohibits ICE from re-terminating the records without at least 20 days’ notice.
The six students are currently represented by the ACLU of New Jersey, the Rutgers Immigrant Community Assistance Project, and attorneys from the John J. Gibbons Fellowship in Public Interest and Constitutional Law at Gibbons P.C.
“The government not only failed to provide notice or explanation when it terminated our clients’ records, but then gave shifting rationale for doing so, underscoring how arbitrarily this administration is treating students,” said Molly Linhorst, staff attorney at ACLU-NJ and legal counsel to the students.
Linhorst emphasized that “like all other people in the United States, regardless of immigration status, [the students] are entitled to the constitutional guarantee of due process of law.”
The Trump administration’s abrupt terminations of F-1 student status and alleged constitutional violations continue to arise in other states as well.
“While the government later reactivated the immigration records after students filed dozens of cases across the country seeking relief, the remaining notations in the students’ records about the unlawful terminations have continued to cause them harm and can pose serious legal consequences,” the ACLU stated.
On May 9, 2025, a separate federal court in Vermont ruled in favor of another international student detained under similar circumstances.
Rümeysa Öztürk, a former Fulbright scholar and current Tufts University Ph.D. student researching child development, was arrested and detained by ICE for 45 days in three different states—despite no allegations being filed against her, according to the ACLU.
“She has been imprisoned all these days for simply writing an op-ed that called for human rights and dignity for the people in Palestine. When did speaking up against oppression become a crime? When did speaking up against genocide become something to be imprisoned for?” asked Mahsa Khanbabai of Khanbabai Immigration Law.
Khanbabai added, “I’m thankful that the courts have been ruling in favor of detained political prisoners like Rümeysa.”
“Spending over six weeks in detention for writing an op-ed is a constitutional horror story,” said Monica Allard, staff attorney with the ACLU of Vermont. “Her release is a victory for everyone committed to justice, free speech, and basic human rights.”
Still, Mudassar Toppa, staff attorney at CLEAR—a legal nonprofit and clinic based at CUNY School of Law—cautioned that the broader pattern remains troubling.
“The government has spared no effort to evade accountability,” Toppa said, “by denying due process.”
Legal advocates and civil rights activists have expressed concern that these incidents—occurring in close succession but across different states—reveal a troubling trend, even as federal courts hand down important victories.
“The public plays an important role in upholding our constitutional rights,” Khanbabai said in closing. “Please continue to speak up for democracy and civil rights in every space—including our elected offices, our universities, and our halls of justice.”
