ACLU files class action lawsuit challenging terminated student status of students in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico

“It’s disturbing that several international students studying here in Rhode Island, at both Brown University and RISD, have had their student status determinations revoked without explanation."

From a press release:

Four ACLU affiliates and law firm Shaheen & Gordon filed a federal class action lawsuit today seeking to represent over 100 students in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico who had their F-1 student immigration status unlawfully and abruptly terminated with no specified reason as to why. This includes a handful of students from Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design who have had their student status revoked in the past few weeks. The lawsuit asks the court to reinstate their F-1 student status, which would allow them to continue their studies.

“We continue to be alarmed by the Trump administration’s sudden termination of student statuses at universities across the country without any notice or stated explanation,” said Gilles Bissonnette, Legal Director of the ACLU of New Hampshire. “International students are a vital community in our state’s universities, and no administration should be allowed to circumvent the law to unilaterally strip students of status, disrupt their studies, and put them at risk of deportation.”

According to the lawsuit, these unilateral and unlawful terminations have severely disrupted the educational opportunities of these students who are in the middle of their studies (and in the middle of a semester) and who are simply trying to obtain, often at considerable expense, an education in the United States while following all the rules required of them. With terminated F-1 statuses, they are also now at dire risk of detention and deportation.

These terminations by the United States Department of Homeland Security have been occurring since at least March 1, 2025, and have impacted hundreds, if not thousands, of international students throughout the United States. Inside Higher Ed estimates that, as of April 17, 2025, over 210 colleges and universities have identified 1,400-plus international students and recent graduates who have had their legal status changed. This includes 112 across New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico.

The lawsuit details how the unlawful termination of these students’ F-1 status violates their due process rights, as the government is required to provide advance notice and a meaningful opportunity to respond. Additionally, the lawsuit states that the government must have grounds to terminate a student’s status and that the revocation of an F-1 visa is not sufficient grounds.

To terminate student status, the student must, for example, fail to take full courses of study, engage in unauthorized employment, or be convicted of a violent crime with a potential sentence of more than a year. None of those situations exist for those who would be represented in this case.

“It’s disturbing that several international students studying here in Rhode Island, at both Brown University and RISD, have had their student status determinations revoked without explanation,” said Steven Brown, Executive Director of the ACLU of Rhode Island “The Trump Administration’s actions against these students are a blatant violation of due process. We’re a part of this class-action suit to protect them and others who have had to suddenly leave their studies and face possible deportation for absolutely no legitimate reason."

“Today’s filing reflects the reality that all of the international students impacted by these ill-advised and illegal student visa terminations deserve immediate, unqualified protection from the potentially draconian consequences of the government’s unjustified actions,” said Ronald Abramson, Chair of the Immigration Law Group at Shaheen & Gordon.

The ACLU of New Hampshire recently filed a separate lawsuit on behalf of a Dartmouth College student whose F-1 student status had similarly been terminated. A federal judge temporarily restored his status during an emergency hearing last week.

View the case documents here.