In a development raising fresh concerns for international students, a prominent American immigration lawyers’ association has claimed that half of the recent US student visa revocations involve Indian nationals. The American Immigration Lawyers’ Association (AILA) revealed that out of 327 reports of visa cancellations and Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) terminations, nearly 50% pertained to students from India or were Indian nationals.
According to a report by PTI, AILA gathered these accounts from attorneys, students, and university staff. Following India, the next most affected group is Chinese students, who account for 14% of the cases. Other nations significantly impacted include South Korea, Nepal, and Bangladesh, the AILA statement noted.
The association emphasized the need for greater transparency and accountability in the visa revocation process, warning against arbitrary cancellations. “A system must be in place to allow students to appeal SEVIS terminations without facing employment gaps or depending heavily on university intervention, given the high volume of affected students,” AILA stressed.
The visa issues come amid broader challenges for international students under tightening US immigration policies. Reuters reported that many students have turned to the courts, seeking emergency relief from judges across Massachusetts, Montana, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C., after immigration officials began revoking their legal stay statuses en masse.
One such case involves Krish Isserdasani, a 21-year-old undergraduate student from India at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Although a local disorderly conduct charge against him was dismissed, his SEVIS record was subsequently terminated without notice. A federal judge later ruled that the government’s actions were likely unlawful, granting Isserdasani temporary relief.
The wave of revocations is part of broader immigration enforcement initiatives, prompting fears among international students about their futures in the United States. Calls for reforms are growing louder as affected students and legal experts urge the Biden administration to ensure procedural fairness and protect students’ rights.
