WMU international students' status reinstated, ICE making policy to revoke it
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — The statuses of six international students have been restored in a system that tracks enrollment, Western Michigan University confirmed Monday.
The records were from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System by federal officials without the students or the university's knowledge, WMU staff said in a previous statement. A federal lawsuit against members of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement is moving forward, with attorneys looking to ensure this doesn't happen again.
The was filed earlier this month in the Western District of Michigan. Attorneys argued that federal officials referenced the National Crime Information Center for any interactions between SEVIS students and law enforcement. Then, their status was removed in the system. Attorneys for the students called it 'unlawful.'
Student status change worries WMU students, organizations
Last week, a federal judge ordered the and several others as part of a temporary restraining order.
On Friday, ICE officials moved to reinstate student status for more than a thousand international students across the country. In that same message made to a federal court, it noted that the reversal is only while ICE officials work on a policy framework to remove those records.
An attorney representing several students in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio and Missouri told News 8 that their case is working to prevent that effort.
ICE is reversing the termination of legal status for international students around the US
'We know that the government is backing down, but we anticipate that they're going to continue to try and wiggle their way through so that they can continue to, you know, make a policy and terminate students without any notice or due process,' said Adriana Kemish, an associate attorney for the Law Office of Amy Maldonado in East Lansing.
A redacted complaint shared with News 8 says most of the students appeared in the NCIC for issues like traffic tickets or other cases that have since been dismissed.
One WMU student in the lawsuit is a 27-year-old man from India who is expected to graduate this year with a master's degree in industrial engineering. He had a misdemeanor retail fraud charge and a speeding ticket dismissed after completing probation in January.
A second student is a 27-year-old man from Nepal working on a doctorate in aerospace engineering. He had a traffic violation dismissed after paying a fine.
The third student is a 31-year-old woman from China. The doctoral education student is married to a U.S. citizen, has an American citizen daughter and is expecting another child. She was issued a speeding ticket in 2020 that was dismissed the following year.
Kemish said she met with several clients Monday who are breathing a bit easier, but their anxiety remains. Many lawyers are telling clients to stay home while they complete their degrees or work.
'All of these students are now asking, 'Can I travel? Can I go see my family? How about my summer break?' and things. And at this point, the safest bet, and you know, litigators across the country are telling all these students, 'You are not going to be able to travel and come back,'' said Kemish.
ACLU sues Trump administration for targeting international students
She said students in this case are living an experience that might deter other international students from coming to the U.S.
'I mean, who would want to, you know, have this vindication and persecution against them just to come and get a college degree?' Kemish said.
News 8 reached out to DHS and ICE for a comment Monday evening but has yet to hear back.
'Being granted a visa to live and study in the United States is a privilege, not a right. The State Department makes specific determinations about visa revocations when an individual poses a threat to national security, said Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a previous email.
It's a statement that attorneys for the WMU students have pushed back on.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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