US Judge halts SEVIS cancellations for 133 students, offers relief to majority of Indian students

A federal judge in Georgia has temporarily restored SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) records for 133 international students, a majority of them from India, who had their visas abruptly revoked by U.S. authorities.

The students filed suit after the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) terminated their SEVIS records, alleging associations with law enforcement events. Many of them, however, had no criminal record.

The move follows the court’s issuance of Temporary Restraining Orders (TROs) in favour of the students. Immigration attorneys argued that the revocations left students without legal status, even in cases where the alleged infractions were minor or unclear.

The majority of impacted students were on Optional Practical Training (OPT), a temporary work authorisation that allows international graduates, especially in STEM fields, to gain work experience in the U.S. Loss of OPT status threatens their career and future visa prospects.

Rubio's strike

The cancellations came after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio launched the “Catch and Revoke” initiative — a program that uses AI tools to scrutinise student visa holders, including monitoring social media. Rubio had earlier stated that over 300 student visas were revoked through the initiative.

A report by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) said ICE has cancelled 4,736 SEVIS records since January 20, 2025. Of the 327 individual cases reviewed, nearly half involved Indian nationals, with students from China, Nepal, South Korea, and Bangladesh also affected.

According to the AILA report, many students faced revocations for minor issues — traffic tickets, administrative university violations, or even being listed as a victim in a domestic violence report. Only two cases cited political activity.

Lawyers criticised the government's actions for lacking transparency. “Protesting is not illegal in the US, and these students could lose everything because of vague allegations,” one attorney said.