Judge blocks ICE from revoking international students' legal status

SAN FRANCISCO: A judge in California blocked the Trump administration Thursday from terminating the legal status of international students nationwide while a court case challenging previous terminations is pending.

The order by US district judge Jeffrey S White in Oakland bars the govt from arresting, incarcerating or moving students elsewhere based on their legal status until the case is resolved. Students could still be arrested for other reasons and their legal status can still be revoked if they are convicted of a violent crime carrying a prison term of more than a year.

Most courts hearing these types of cases have granted protections to the person suing, but White said the govt's actions "wreaked havoc" not only on the lives of plaintiffs but other nonimmigrants in the US on student visas.

White, who was nominated by President George W Bush, a Republican, issued the nationwide injunction sought by attorneys for about two dozen students who sued after their legal status was abruptly terminated in early April by ICE.

More than 4,700 international students had their permission to study in the US cancelled this spring, with little notice or explanation, as part of President Trump's crackdown on immigrants and foreign nationals. In court hearings, DHS officials said they ran the names of student visa holders through an FBI-run database that contains the names of suspects who have been arrested.