Together, three Indian students and two Chinese students are suing the Trump administration for terminating F-1 student visas for “thousands of international students.” Through their lawyers, the quintet claimed that their “unilateral and unlawful termination” of the F-1 status had disqualified them from lawful student status in a class action case submitted to the US District Court in New Hampshire.
International students have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated at institutions around the United States, usually with little warning and frequently for trivial reasons like parking and traffic infractions. Since late March, the Associated Press reported that 1,100 students at over 170 institutions, universities, and university systems have been impacted.
The lawsuit claimed that the Department of Homeland Security unilaterally terminated the F-1 visas of “hundreds, if not thousands,” of foreign students and Optional Practical Training (“OPT”) participants across the United States, and sought to reinstate the terminated student visas and stop detentions and deportations.
The three Indian plaintiffs behind the lawsuit are Manikanta Pasula, Linkhith Babu Gorrela and Thanuj Kumar Gummadavelli — all students of Rivier University in New Hampshire. The two Chinese plaintiffs are Hangrui Zhang and Haoyang An, graduate students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. Indians and Chinese are the two biggest foreign groups in the US academia, with over half a million students between them.
Gorella is set to graduate in May 2025, while Gummadavelli and Pasula have one more semester before their Master’s degree is completed. Their graduation is unlikely unless the court intervenes.
Per the lawsuit, Pasula was arrested and charged with driving without a valid US license while he had his Indian driver’s license. New Hampshire permits the use of International Driving Permits for up to 60 days after foreign students arrive in the United States, according to a Times of India Report.
The report said Pasula’s arrest came within the 60-day window, but he pled guilty and paid a $248 fine before getting a valid US driver’s license. Pasula received an email from Rivier University earlier this month informing him that the State Department revoked his visa. He also received a similar email from the US Consulate General in Mumbai saying that “remaining in the United States without a lawful immigration status can result in fines, detention, and/or deportation.”
The three Indian plaintiffs behind the lawsuit are Rivier University (New Hampshire) students Manikanta Pasula, Linkhith Babu Gorrela and Thanuj Kumar Gummadavelli. Gorella’s graduation date for his Master’s program is listed as May 20, 2025. Meanwhile, Gummadavelli and Pasula are left with just one semester before their Master’s degree is completed.
Cases against Thanuj and Gorrela are similar. They were reportedly charged with a traffic misdemeanour for failing to carry a valid US driver’s license. Both had an international driving permit but were using it beyond the 60-day window. They also paid fines and subsequently got their US licenses, but their student status was nixed by the State Department.
However, according to the lawsuit, Haoyang An was charged with a misdemeanor for driving in Massachusetts without an active insurance coverage, while Zhang was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor in an incident resulting from a misunderstanding. In the midst of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, their student status was also withdrawn, even though both of their cases were dismissed in court.
The students alleged in their lawsuit that they were placed in danger of detention and deportation as a result of their visa revocation, and that they had experienced “severe financial and academic hardship.” They also claimed that their degrees had been denied to them and that they were unable to work in the Optional Practical Training program after graduating.
