Kansas City immigration lawyer fighting against Trump blocking immigrants from access to college
Rekha Sharma-Crawford, an immigration attorney based in Kansas City who filed a federal lawsuit against the termination of international students' statuses, appears on the Kansas Reflector podcast on May 5. (Grace Hills/Kansas Reflector)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Immigration attorney Rekha Sharma-Crawford filed a federal lawsuit against President Donald Trump's attempts to block five international students from their college educations — and so far, she's winning.
Court records show that on April 24, a judge granted Sharma-Crawford's motion for a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration revocation of their legal status as students . On May Wednesday, the judge extended the order to May 21.
Since Trump took office in January, Sharma-Crawford said, she's seen an 'unheard of' number of international students seek her counsel over having their immigration status terminated.
When the federal government notified the students, Sharma-Crawford said, they were told they had been 'identified in criminal records' – with no elaboration.
Sharma-Crawford said on the Kansas Reflector podcast that students lost their status without explanation or communication. She said it was done to ultimately harm international students and the universities.
'Here you have somebody who is acting in a completely opaque manner with no transparency impacting people's schooling, and their liberty and their rights even to go to school without any kind of proper notice, without any kind of proper hearing,' Sharma-Crawford said.
The plaintiffs — who attend Truman State University, Northwest Missouri State University or Southeast Missouri State University or have extended status to continue post-graduation work — in Sharma-Crawford's lawsuit received notification in April that their Student and Exchange Visitor Program status had been revoked.
In the lawsuit, Sharma-Crawford outlined some reasons the students believe their statuses were revoked for operating a vehicle without a valid driver's license, a noise complaint, a discontinued felony theft charge, a fleeing charge, an arrest for public intoxication, and traffic violations.
The lawsuit said the students paid all associated fines and had no reason to believe their status would be terminated. None of the potential criminal records, according to Sharma-Crawford, was enough to terminate their visas.
Yanky Perelmuter, an immigration attorney based in Overland Park, said he's seen the same.
'Almost all of the students I've talked to have some underlying petty criminal issue, like speeding tickets, or shoplifting, maybe a DUI,' Perelmuter said.
The Kansas conference of the American Association of University Professors recently condemned the Trump administration's targeting of college and university international students and scholars. The group asked higher education administrators to stop cooperating with federal investigators by giving them students' personal information.
The way students found out about their change in immigration status also was problematic, Sharma-Crawford said communication was an issue.
'Students weren't even getting notifications. Their schools were getting notifications,' Sharma-Crawford said. That robs students of due process, she said.
But, she said, the universities communicated with the students immediately and connected them with legal resources. She said the most important resources universities can provide are for mental health.
'It is critical that they not only have the legal backing but they have the stamina mentally,' Sharma-Crawford said.
Kansas Reflector reached out to every state university — the University of Kansas, Kansas State University, Pittsburg State University, Emporia State University, Wichita State University and Fort Hays State University — as well as Washburn University, and asked how many international students had their status terminated and what support was provided. Most of the universities did not respond, but Fort Hays and Pittsburg State said they're monitoring the issue and are connecting students with resources.
Sharma-Crawford said she wasn't surprised that most of the universities didn't respond. She said the Trump administration uses fear and intimidation as a tactic to scare universities and international students.
'It's hindering them from wanting to be here or come here,' Sharma-Crawford said. 'I think, in some ways, that's the plan. Because if you can economically harm the universities, then the universities will bend to your will.'
Sharma-Crawford said one of the cruelest parts of this is the timing. The students were notified of termination roughly one month before finals. She said the stress of it caused some students to immediately leave the country without seeking legal help. Sharma-Crawford encouraged any affected student to seek individualized legal help.
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