Indian And Chinese Students Sue Trump Administration Over F-1 Visa Cancellations

Three Indian students and two Chinese students are among the five foreign students who have filed a class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration for revoked their F-1 student visas. The students claim that because of the Department of Homeland Security's sweeping action, they are no longer considered legal students and are now at risk of being detained and deported.

According to the media reports, three Indian students, Thanuj Kumar Gummadavelli, Linkhith Babu Gorrela, and Manikanta Pasula, are enrolled at Rivier University in New Hampshire. Two Chinese students, Hangrui Zhang and Haoyang An, are enrolled in Worcester Polytechnic Institute's graduate program in Massachusetts.

The students say they were having their visas canceled for minor infractions like parking and traffic tickets. When Pasula was accused of driving while in possession of an International Driving Permit but without a valid U.S. driving licence, his visa was cancelled. Likewise, Gorella and Gummadavelli's visas were revoked when they were accused of traffic misdemeanors for not carrying a valid US driver's license, as reported by NDTV.

The students are subjected to extreme financial and academic distress, such as detention, deportation, and not being able to work in the Optional Practical Training program upon graduation. Their degrees have also been withheld.

According to an Associated Press report, the complaint claims that the Department of Homeland Security has canceled the F-1 visas of "hundreds, if not thousands," of international students and Optional Practical Training participants at schools in the US. The cancellation has affected more than 1,100 students at over 170 institutions and universities.

The two largest groups of overseas students in US academics are Chinese and Indians, with about half a million students each. The action draws attention to the uncertainty and dilemma that international students in the US face.

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