A federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order halting the deportation of a Marshall University graduate student from India who is within just weeks of graduation.
The student, identified publicly as S.V., recently received an email saying his F-1 Visa was being revoked because his name was found on a criminal record. He was arrested in Indiana in 2020 on a misdemeanor driving under the influence charge. He was sentenced to probation, which was lifted early.
The graduate student sued in federal court with the support of the American Civil Liberties Union-West Virginia, arguing that the actions violated administrative procedures and his Fifth Amendment rights.
U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers on Wednesday granted the temporary restraining order. The court ordered the government to restore the graduate student’s status and prohibited his arrest or deportation pending a further hearing.
The judge scheduled an expedited preliminary injunction hearing for 10 a.m. May 7 in Huntington.
“When he applied for this visa, he disclosed that he had a previous misdemeanor conviction in the United States and, as a result, was subjected to additional scrutiny before he was allowed to enter the United States,” Chambers noted in his order.
“Since he entered the country in 2023, he has not been arrested, charged with a crime or even issued a speeding ticket.”
Chambers said the order is in line with federal district courts across the country that have entered temporary restraining orders in similar cases — particularly in Montana, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
In this case, Chambers concluded the graduate student is likely to succeed on his claim, saying the record so far suggests federal officials “were arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law.
“The record before the Court suggests that no conduct by Vyas constituted a status violation and none of the other circumstances which might justify a termination were present.”
Because the situation has arisen just before the May 10 graduation date at Marshall, Chambers wrote, the graduate student is at a crucial juncture because he is not currently allowed to attend classes.
“Less than three weeks from graduation from a two-year program, he faces a loss of academic progress in the absence of immediate relief,” the judge wrote.
That amounts to the immediate and irreparable injury required to demonstrate the need for a temporary restraining order, the judge concluded.
The judge directed federal officials to restore the graduate student’s status and to demonstrate having done so by noon Friday.
“The Court further DIRECTS that Defendants are prohibited from arresting, detaining, or transferring Plaintiff out of this Court’s jurisdiction, or ordering the arrest, detention, or transfer of Plaintiff out of this Court’s jurisdiction, or initiating removal proceedings against or deporting the Plaintiff.”