Federal judge blocks immigration authorities from revoking international students’ legal status
May 22, 2025
A judge in California has blocked the Trump administration from terminating the legal status of international students nationwide while a court case challenging previous terminations plays out. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White on Thursday barred the government from reversing the students’ legal status, arresting or transferring them until the case is resolved. They could still be arrested in cases like violent crimes. White said the government’s actions “wreaked havoc not only on the lives of Plaintiffs here but on similarly situated F-1 nonimmigrants across the United States and continues do so.” More than 4,700 international students had their permission to study in the U.S. canceled this spring and then abruptly reinstated.
