Judge orders WMU students' enrollment status reinstated
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — A judge has told the federal government to put three Western Michigan University international students back into a database that tracks their enrollment status.
U.S. District Court Judge Jane Beckering issued a temporary restraining order dated Wednesday telling Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to put the students' information back in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System and keep it there 'absent a valid ground for termination of nonimmigrant status' as set forth by law.
The order also told the federal government it may not arrest, detain or move the students out of the jurisdictions they are already in without telling the court first. The judge said the students may not be deported based on their SEVIS status.
WMU international students file lawsuit over status change
The three WMU students are among 10 at various universities in Michigan and elsewhere that filed the federal lawsuit, saying the government unlawfully terminated their status in SEVIS.
According to a redacted complaint sent to News 8, the reason government officials stated for terminating that status in an email was 'OTHERWISE FAILING TO MAINTAIN STATUS: Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their VISA revoked.'
Last week, WMU leaders shared that six students so far had their SEVIS status terminated, with one student's visa revoked that the university is aware of.
Student status change worries WMU students, organizations
According to the complaint, one WMU student is a 27-year-old man from India who is expected to graduate this year with a master's in industrial engineering. He completed probation in January and a misdemeanor retail fraud case was dismissed. A speeding violation was also dismissed. Attorneys in the complaint said that whether or not the dismissal is considered a 'conviction' in immigration law, it does not make the student removable or inadmissible form the U.S.
The second student is a 27-year-old man from Nepal who previously graduated from WMU with a bachelor's and master's degrees in aerospace engineering. In his record is one traffic violation, which lawyers say was dismissed after he paid a fine.
A third is a 31-year-old woman who is a Chinese citizen. The doctoral education student is married to a U.S. citizen, has a daughter who is a U.S. citizen and is expecting another child. In December 2020, she got a speeding ticket in Nebraska, which was later dismissed the following year.
The judge wrote in her order that the students have shown they could win their claim and that they would suffer irreparable injury without the injunction.
'In sum, this Court … determines that the balance of factors weighs in favor of granting temporary injunctive relief,' Beckering wrote. 'Granting emergency relief will merely maintain the status quo that has been in place for the several years that Plaintiffs have been in the United States.'
The temporary restraining order is in effect for 14 days, though it could be extended. A hearing in the case has been set for May 6 in federal court in Grand Rapids.
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