ATLANTA (AP) — Anjean Roy was studying with a friend at Missouri State University when he received an email that turned his world upside down. His Legal Status As the international student was fired, he was suddenly at risk of deportation.
“I was literally shocked,” said Roy, a graduate student in computer science in Bangladeshi.
At first, he avoided going out in public, skipped class, leaving his phone mostly off. The court that ruled his favor was restored this week, and he returned to his apartment, but he is still asking his roommate to screen visitors.
Over a thousand people international student Their academic careers and life in the US have been thrown into doubt by the widespread crackdown by the Trump administration, and have faced similar disruptions in recent weeks. Some have found measures of success in court as federal judges across the country are issuing orders to restore student legal status at least temporarily.
In addition to the lawsuit filed in Atlanta, where Roy is among the 133 plaintiffs, the judge issued temporary restraining orders in states, including New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Montana and New Hampshire. Oregon and Washington. The judge has denied similar demands in several other cases, saying it is not clear that loss of status causes irreparable harm.
International students challenge to revoke their status
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month State Department It had revoked visas held by visitors rebutting national interests, including those who protested Israeli war in Gaza and those facing criminal charges. However, many affected students said they were only involved in minor violations, or why they were targeted, is completely unknown.
Lawyers for Roy and his fellow plaintiff Charles Cuck, argued that the government had no legal basis for terminating student status.
He speculated last week that the government was trying to encourage these students to self-report, saying, “The pressure on these students is overwhelming.” Some asked if it was safe to leave to get food, while others worried that they wouldn’t get a degree after years of work or that their career opportunities in the US would be shot.
“I think the hope is that they just leave,” Cuck said. “The reality is that these kids are being invested.”
Government lawyer R. David Powell argued that students were not at all harmed because they could transfer academic credits and find work in other countries.
At least 1,100 students from 174 universities, universities and university systems either revoked their visas or repealed their legal status after late March, according to a university statement, communications with school officials and a review of court records. The AP is working to confirm reports from hundreds of students caught up in the crackdown.
In a lawsuit filed Monday on the University of Iowa student visa, lawyers detail the “psychic and financial suffering” they experienced. One graduate student from India said “cannot sleep and have difficulty breathing and eating,” the lawsuit reads. He stopped going to school, doing research, and working as a teaching assistant. Another student said a Chinese undergraduate who had hoped to graduate this December said his revoked condition has worsened his depression, which has made it worse until doctors increased the medication dosage. The student said he has not left his apartment due to fears of detention, according to the lawsuit.
A small violation gave students a target for crackdown
Roy, 23, began his academic career in Missouri in August 2024 as an undergraduate computer science student. He is active in a chess club and fraternity and has a wide circle of friends. After graduating in December, he began earning his master’s degree in January and is expected to finish in May 2026.
When Roy received the April 10 email at his status end on April 10th, one of his friends offered to skip class to go to the school’s international service office despite a quiz in 45 minutes. Staff there said that database checks showed that his student status had ended, but they didn’t know why.
Roy said the only brush of the law came in 2021. He was questioned by campus security after someone was called in a dispute in a university residential building. However, he said the officers determined that there was no evidence of the crime and that no charges were filed.
Roy also received an email from the US Embassy in Bangladesh telling him that his visa has been revoked and that he could be detained at any time. He warned that if he was deported, he could be sent to a country other than him. Roy thought about leaving the US, but decided to stay after talking to his lawyer.
Worried about being in her apartment, Roy went to stay nearby with her second cousin and her husband.
“They were scared that someone would come and pick me up from the street and take me to a place they didn’t know,” Roy said.
He stayed mostly inside, turning off his phone unless he had to use it, avoiding internet browsers that track user data via cookies. His professor understood when he told them he couldn’t come to class for a while, he said.
New questions about the future of students in the US
He returned to his apartment on Friday after the judge’s order. He knows he has recovered his status on Tuesday and is set to return to class. But he is still nervous. He asked his two roommates, both international students, to let him know before anyone they hadn’t knocked open the door.
The restoration of a judge’s legal status is temporary. Another hearing scheduled for Thursday will determine whether he will maintain that status while the lawsuit continues.
Roy chose the United States over other options in Canada and Australia because of research opportunities and potential professional connections. He wanted to eventually teach at an American university. But now those plans are in the air.
His parents were back in Dhaka to watch the news and “we’re going crazy,” he said. His father told him he had a family in Melbourne, Australia. That includes my cousin, an assistant professor at the university. ___
Associated Press reporters were Christopher L. Keller of Albuquerque, New Mexico and Hannah Fingerhat of Des Moines, Iowa, who contributed to the story.
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