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Billal Rahman is an immigration reporter primarily based in London, U.Ok. He focuses on immigration coverage and border safety. He has uncovered allegations of misconduct amongst border brokers below investigation and uncovered claims of abuse at ICE-run detention facilities within the U.S. He joined Newsweek in 2024 from The Impartial. He has lined the British Submit Workplace scandal and the battle between Israel and Hamas. Initially from Glasgow, he studied Journalism in Edinburgh after which labored for STV Information earlier than transferring to London in 2022. You may contact Billal at b.rahman@newsweek.com.

Billal Rahman

Immigration Reporter

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A federal choose in Columbus has granted a brief restraining order in favor of an Ohio State College graduate whose pupil visa was terminated by President Donald Trump’s administration.

Why It Issues

Immigration is a cornerstone of White Home coverage agenda. Over a thousand international college students have had their visas revoked since Trump returned to workplace. The administration has revoked visas of worldwide college students alleged to have been concerned in pro-Palestinian activism on faculty campuses. This motion stems from Govt Order 14188, signed in early 2025, which goals to fight antisemitism. Nonetheless, critics argue the administration is leveraging the order to stifle free speech.

What To Know

On Tuesday, April 22, U.S. District Court docket Decide Algenon L. Marbley of the Southern District of Ohio granted a brief restraining order in favor of Prasanna Oruganti, a world graduate pupil from India pursuing a Ph.D. in agricultural engineering.

The ruling directs U.S. Division of Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem and Appearing ICE Director Todd Lyons to reinstate Oruganti’s F-1 pupil visa. It additionally prohibits each federal companies from taking any additional motion associated to the visa termination, together with detention or initiating deportation proceedings, in response to the court docket order.

Oruganti filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in opposition to Noem and Lyons on April 16, difficult the termination of her pupil visa.

The termination of the visa jeopardizes her skill to proceed working on the college, places her month-to-month stipend in danger, and will finally lead to deportation.

In keeping with the court docket ruling granting the short-term restraining order, Oruganti works within the Division of Meals, Agriculture, and Biomedical Engineering as a part of her doctoral program.

The federal government argued that Oruganti’s visa was revoked as a result of she was recognized in a felony background verify, which they claimed violated her F-1 standing. Nonetheless, Oruganti countered that the so-called “felony historical past” stems from a June 2020 responsible plea to a minor misdemeanor—a faulty gear cost from a driving incident in Missouri. She paid a $300 positive for the offense.

Oruganti is amongst a minimum of 12 Ohio State college students whose visas have been revoked or terminated in current weeks by the Trump administration. One other OSU graduate pupil, Ph.D. candidate Ahwar Sultan, filed a federal lawsuit on April 16, claiming the administration focused him for his involvement in pro-Palestine protests that happened on the college in April 2024.

In court docket filings on April 21, Andre Watson, assistant director of the Nationwide Safety Division for Homeland Safety Investigations, acknowledged that Sultan’s visa was terminated resulting from his arrest on April 25, 2024, for taking part in pro-Palestine protests. As a part of the case, Sultan was required to finish 10 hours of group service and attend a workshop on civil discourse, each of which he accomplished promptly, in response to the court docket filings.

“Ms. Oruganti is one in every of a whole lot, if no more, of scholars nationwide whose file and F-1 standing within the Scholar and Change Customer Info Methods (SEVIS) database1 was abruptly terminated by ICE the week of April 7, 2025,” court docket paperwork learn.

Greater than 1,500 pupil visas have been revoked as a part of Trump’s crackdown on immigrants engaged in political activism, in response to knowledge reported by Inside Increased Ed.

In the meantime, a federal choose in Georgia has ordered ICE to revive the authorized standing of 133 college students whose F-1 visas had been revoked, leaving them susceptible to deportation. On Friday, Decide Victoria M. Calvert of the state’s Northern District issued a brief restraining order in opposition to the federal government, stopping additional motion being taken to revoke the scholars’ visas. The order, which can stay in impact for 14 days, required the administration to revive the visas by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22.

Newsweek has contacted the Northern District Court docket and DHS through e-mail to inquire whether or not the visas had been restored.

What Folks Are Saying

Prasanna Oruganti’s lawyer Emily Brown mentioned: “[The Trump administration] is [revoking visas] for equally baseless causes, and we hope that they may stop their unlawful motion.”

What Occurs Subsequent

A preliminary injunction listening to for Oruganti’s case is scheduled for Could 8.