WASHINGTON — Part of the Trump administration’s sweeping crackdown on immigration involves revoking the legal status of international students studying in the U.S., but some of the students are fighting back and accusing the administration of acting unlawfully. Some of the students who are part of the legal challenges are studying in Texas. 

What You Need To Know

  • Michael Piston, a New York-based immigration attorney, represents more than 20 international students who sued after the Trump administration terminated their legal status in the U.S

  • According to court documents, the government ended their legal status after a “criminal records check,” but Piston says none of his clients were charged or convicted of felonies 

  • More than 1,000 students at 174 colleges, universities and university systems across the country have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated since late March, according to the Associated Press

  • The Trump administration says there are regular reviews of records and stands by the revocations

“One thing that particularly frightens them is that they expect to be arrested at any moment and put into removal proceedings,” said Michael Piston, a New York-based immigration attorney. “It’s a very profoundly disruptive and traumatizing experience.”  

Piston represents more than 20 international students who sued after the Trump administration terminated their legal status in the U.S.

“They’re mad, devastated. Here people have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to go to school in the United States, and all of a sudden, out of the clear blue sky, they’re being informed that they have to leave with no assurances that they’re going to be able to come back,” Piston said. 

According to court documents, the government ended their legal status after a “criminal records check.” But Piston says none of the database hits were for serious felonies. 

“It’s because their names appeared in criminal databases, that does not mean that they were convicted of any offense,” Piston said.

“Many of the offenses were traffic offenses, speeding, reckless driving, drunk driving. Occasionally there were misdemeanors, but none of the people that I was representing were ever convicted or even charged with felonies,” Piston continued.  

One of the students Piston represents is a Chinese national who is pursuing a doctoral degree in Management Science at the University of Texas at Dallas. The student is one of at least 250 international students studying in Texas whose status changed.

According to the Associated Press, more than 1,000 students at 174 colleges, universities and university systems across the country have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated since late March.

The Trump administration says there are regular reviews of records and stands by the revocations.

“The department revokes visas every day in order to secure our borders and to keep our community safe, and will continue to do so. The criteria, as it is, is applied appropriately,” said Tammy Bruce, a spokesperson with the Department of State. 

Piston’s lawsuit calls the terminations unlawful. He says his clients just want to continue their education and employment in the U.S. 

Piston said he believes the Trump administration is “trying to do anything they can to reduce the number of foreign nationals in the United States, whether they’re here, legally or illegally.”

“I think their attitude towards all of them is just that there should be much less of you here, and anyway we can do to get rid of you, that’s what we’re going to do,” Piston continued. 

Some Texas universities say they will continue to monitor the situation and immigration status of its international students. Others say its university is committed to supporting them and providing guidance within the parameters of the law.

Other universities in the country have encouraged students to seek legal counsel while others have told them to make plans to leave the country immediately.

Self-deportation has been a crucial tool for the Trump administration, as a way of removing a large number of people from the U.S. without the expense of arresting and detaining them, and having their cases adjudicated.