EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge in Oregon on Monday ordered the U.S. government to restore the visa status of two international students and temporarily blocked their deportation from the country.
U.S. District Judge Michael McShane’s 14-day temporary restraining order came in response to lawsuits filed by a student at Oregon State University and another at the University of Oregon following the termination of their visas earlier this month.
At a hearing in federal court in Eugene on Monday, McShane questioned federal lawyers on which regulations they were following when terminating the students’ legal status, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
“There has to be some regulations for when it’s appropriate and not appropriate. What regulation is ICE following here?” McShane asked, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Conti, representing the federal Department of Homeland Security, said it hadn’t had enough time to gather all the information and argued that the students didn’t face irreparable harm, as a final agency decision had not been issued that they could challenge administratively, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon and an immigration law firm filed both lawsuits against the Trump administration, arguing the students’ visas were terminated “without any notice or meaningful explanation” to the students or their universities.
The suits were filed on behalf of Aaron Ortega Gonzalez, a 32-year-old citizen of Mexico pursuing a doctoral degree in rangeland ecology at Oregon State University, and a 29-year-old British graduate student only identified as Jane Doe who is pursuing two masters degrees at the University of Oregon.
At schools around the country, more than 1,000 students have seen their visas revoked or their legal status terminated, typically with little notice.
Students have filed lawsuits in several states, arguing they were denied due process. Federal judges have granted temporary restraining orders in Georgia, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Montana and Washington state, shielding students for now from efforts to remove them from the U.S.
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