Atlanta federal judge extends temporary protection of student visas
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A federal judge has issued temporary protection of student visas, extending it after that protection was originally set to expire Friday night.
U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Calvert had temporarily blocked the visa revocations, protecting the 133 students in a filed lawsuit from deportation. But her initial decision only lasted until midnight.
On Friday afternoon, Calvert issued a temporary restraining order, barring the students’ SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) records from being terminated and reversing the reinstatement of those records. SEVIS keeps track of student visas.
“The court finds that plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits as to their claims that defendants violated the APA by acting arbitrarily, capriciously, and not in accordance with law by terminating plantiffs’ SEVIS records,” the decision states. “Furthermore, plaintiffs have demonstrated a substantial threat of irreparable harm. The court also finds that the balance of harms and the public interest in ensuring defendants follow the law weigh in favor of injunctive relief.”
>> READ THE FULL DECISION BELOW:
Attorney Charles Kuck, who represents the students in their fight to stay in the country, said more than 20 of them are studying in Georgia.
“This is designed to scare people into leaving, and kudos and bravo to these students for standing up for what their parents sent them here to do, which is to gain a good education,” Kuck said following a hearing that led Calvert to grant the temporary restraining order.
While the temporary relief was set to end Friday night, a more permanent solution could come into play.
Recently, Calvert heard arguments for and against a ruling that would demand the government reinstate the 133 students’ statuses.
“These are legal immigrants in the United States, doing what the law requires them to do,” Kuck said after the second hearing. “They are not deportable in any way, and yet the istration is going after them. That’s tragic.”
Around the same time, the Trump istration changed course and said it would maintain or re-activate the records of students affected by the termination until ICE finalizes a policy that will govern those cancellations in the future.
“Why are we giving student visas to people who are coming here to create disruption? And we’ve taken away the student visas of people that have come here to do that. It’s simple,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
Kuck said none of the students he is representing were given a reason as to why their visas were revoked, and he said none of them have committed any deportable offenses.
ICE said it still retains the authority to revoke the registration of anyone who commits a crime.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
Atlanta federal judge temporarily blocks visa revocations for more than 100 international students
‘This takes a lot of guts’: 133 international students sue the U.S. government in Atlanta court
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