Key Takeaways
• Federal courts restored student visa status for UT-RGV students after abrupt SEVIS terminations due to minor offenses.
• Between March and April 2025, 901-1,075 international students lost legal status across 128 U.S. colleges.
• Class action lawsuits allege DHS violated due process by not allowing hearings before terminating immigration status.
Federal courts have recently stepped in to help international students who have lost their immigration status after coming to Texas 🇺🇸 on student visas. This help comes as part of a bigger debate happening across the United States 🇺🇸, where hundreds of students at universities have suddenly found their student visa status taken away. The courts’ decision to restore legal status for three people in Texas 🇺🇸, including those from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, is only the latest in what some see as a growing trend of government mistakes and overreach.
The impact of this action goes far beyond a few cases. It raises questions about how student visas are handled, how quickly lives can be changed, and what rights students have when they study in another country. If you are a student in the United States 🇺🇸 or plan to be, or if you care about how immigration decisions are made, understanding these events is more important than ever.
Court Steps in for Texas Students
In April 2025, four international students at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley faced a major crisis. Hugo Adrian Villar Castellanos and Julio Dylan Sanchez Wong, both from Mexico 🇲🇽, Shishir Timilsena from Nepal 🇳🇵, and Amir Gholami from Iran 🇮🇷 had their legal status taken away because of minor criminal situations. These were not serious crimes, and many were solved with little or no punishment. Yet, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recorded these students as “terminated” in SEVIS, or the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System.
SEVIS is the official U.S. system used to keep track of international students and their visa status. When SEVIS marks someone as “terminated,” that person can no longer work and can face being sent out of the country. For these students, their dreams of learning at UT-RGV and staying in the United States 🇺🇸 were suddenly at risk.
The DHS move to end their status was very fast and, according to the students’ lawyers, did not follow the usual legal process. Instead of holding a hearing or following removal rules that let the students share their side, DHS simply finished their status in the computer system. This gave them no chance to defend themselves or explain what happened.
Lawsuit and Legal Arguments
A lawsuit was quickly filed asking a court to step in. The students’ main argument was that DHS had broken the rules by not giving them a fair chance to be heard and not following the law. Lawyers pointed to the Administrative Procedure Act, a law that controls how government agencies must act, and said that skipping normal removal steps denied important constitutional rights, like due process.
Across the country, similar stories have been happening. Students at Dartmouth College, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Montana State University, and Tufts University also had their student visa or legal status taken away. In these places, federal courts have often agreed that something was wrong, granting temporary orders to restore student visa status while the cases were argued.
As reported by VisaVerge.com, these court victories offer hope, at least for now, for international students in Texas 🇺🇸 and across the United States 🇺🇸. They also put a spotlight on how fast and hard the impact of immigration decisions can be—and how American law provides tools to challenge actions that might break the rules.
How Many Were Affected?
Between March and April 2025, at least 901 to 1,075 international students from more than 128 colleges had their visas revoked or their immigration status taken away, according to information from sources like PBS and other news outlets. Most of those students were not accused of serious crimes or national security threats. They often got little warning, with some just finding out from their school or from SEVIS that their legal status was gone.
Some groups have called this a crackdown. Class action lawsuits, where groups of people sue together, have been filed to challenge what lawyers and students call unfair and arbitrary actions by the government. These lawsuits argue that many of those targeted did not fit the reasons that U.S. immigration officials gave for ending student visas so quickly.
What Does SEVIS “Termination” Mean?
To understand these students’ struggle, it helps to know what SEVIS termination actually means. When a student’s record in SEVIS is marked as “terminated,” it basically kills their student visa right away. They lose the right to work or hold internships as part of schools’ work programs. Worse, it puts them at risk of removal, which means being forced to leave the United States 🇺🇸—sometimes with little time to appeal or fix simple paperwork problems.
For many students, a small mistake, a low-level criminal charge, or even school confusion can lead to a SEVIS termination. Once that happens, the student may not even find out until they try to get a new job, cross a border, or renew their visa.
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley at the Center
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, a large public research school in the south of Texas 🇺🇸, is one of the main schools involved in these federal court actions. At least four students from UT-RGV, including two from Mexico 🇲🇽, faced SEVIS termination after minor criminal situations.
These students’ experiences show how fast DHS can act—and how even small legal problems can snowball into losing the ability to live, work, and study in the United States 🇺🇸. Their stories have led to strong support from lawyers, student groups, and families. They say international students are being unfairly targeted or punished too harshly for minor issues.
What Courts Decided
Federal courts have granted temporary restraining orders, which are short-term legal orders that stop the government from carrying out certain actions until there can be a full court hearing. In these immigration cases, the courts ordered DHS to quickly restore the students’ legal status and stop them from being removed or deported.
Judges also said that DHS did not always follow rules meant to protect people’s basic rights, like the chance to speak up before being punished. These court orders do not solve everything forever, but they keep students in school and safe from removal while longer lawsuits work their way through the courts.
National Debate About Student Visas
This wave of student visa terminations has set off a nationwide debate about how international students are treated in the United States 🇺🇸. Some people believe tougher steps are needed to protect national borders. Others say that most students on student visas come to learn, follow the law, and help both their schools and communities—and that sudden, unexplained changes in status are unfair and hurt the country’s image.
At the center are questions about fairness, the right to due process (which means having a fair hearing), and how much power immigration agencies should have to make fast, life-changing decisions. Many of these questions may end up before the highest courts in the land, especially as the number of affected students grows.
Wider Effects on Schools and Communities
The revocation of student visas does not just hit the student. It has a wide effect on schools, teachers, local businesses, and even the economy. At the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, school leaders worry that if international students feel unsafe or unwanted, fewer will choose to study there.
This could mean less money for the school, fewer shared experiences in class, and missed chances for American students to meet people from around the world. Across the United States 🇺🇸, universities say international students are important for learning new ideas and cultures, and that making student visas harder to keep hurts everyone.
What Should Students Do Now?
If you are a student on a visa, or you want to study in the United States 🇺🇸, it is important to know your rights. No matter what country you come from, laws give you the right to a fair hearing if the government tries to change your immigration status. Always keep records of your schoolwork, legal documents, and any notes from lawyers or advisors.
You can also check your SEVIS record, make copies of key forms, and know who to call for help. If you find out your status has been terminated, contact a trusted immigration lawyer right away. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website, the government agency in charge of these processes, has helpful resources to explain rules and forms.
Long-Term Impacts of Recent Court Orders
The court orders to restore legal status for these students, especially those at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, give temporary help. But they do not answer bigger questions about how SEVIS is used and what rights students have. Lawmakers and the courts are still deciding if the government followed the law. The results may change the future for thousands of international students.
Schools, students, and communities are watching closely. If courts keep ordering DHS to restore immigration status in these kinds of cases, rules for student visas and the power of government might have to change. Lawyers say that the recent success in court shows the system can work—but that students must stay informed and ready in case new problems come up.
What Happens Next?
Litigation—the process of fighting in court—continues in Texas 🇺🇸 and in other places. Some of the lawsuits may take months or years to finish. In the meantime, court orders give breathing room for students to return to class, keep their part-time jobs, or graduate.
What comes next will depend on further court decisions, appeals, and maybe new laws from Congress. For now, the effect of the recent court orders is to slow down or stop any quick removals while judges think about whether the government’s actions were right. Everyone involved is waiting to see what federal courts decide, knowing these choices will shape what it means to be an international student in the United States 🇺🇸 for years to come.
Conclusion and Key Takeaways
- The sudden loss of immigration status for students on student visas is a real and growing concern in the United States 🇺🇸.
- The case from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley spotlights how minor issues can lead to severe outcomes, but also how courts can step in to fix mistakes.
- Courts have ordered immigration officials to restore legal status for affected students, but this is a temporary fix while lawsuits continue.
- Hundreds of students have seen their status changed without good reasons or fair warning, prompting a major debate about student visas and due process.
- If you are an international student, stay alert, know your rights, and understand how to check your immigration status and SEVIS records.
- VisaVerge.com’s investigation reveals that the landscape for student visas is changing, and those affected need to be proactive in seeking help.
- For more information on student visas, processes, and your rights, the best resource is the official USCIS website.
These events show that anyone with a dream to study in another country must not only work hard in class but must also keep up with legal rules. As cases from Texas 🇺🇸 and beyond prove, staying informed and advocating for fair treatment can make all the difference in keeping your future plans on track.
Learn Today
SEVIS → The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, a U.S. government database tracking international students’ visa and status information.
Termination → In SEVIS, this means immediately ending a student’s legal immigration status, risking deportation and loss of work or study eligibility.
Due Process → A constitutional right requiring the government to provide fair legal procedures before depriving someone of rights or status.
Temporary Restraining Order → A short-term court order that stops government actions, such as deportation, until a full legal hearing occurs.
Administrative Procedure Act → Federal law setting the rules for how U.S. government agencies must act and provide fair processes.
This Article in a Nutshell
Recent federal court actions in Texas highlight urgent concerns as hundreds of international students lose U.S. visa status without proper hearings. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley faces central scrutiny. Legal challenges restore status temporarily, spotlighting flaws in SEVIS processes and reinforcing the need for student vigilance and legal protections nationwide.
— By VisaVerge.com
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