ACLU Sues To Keep International Students At Michigan U's

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 04/11/2025) The ACLU of Michigan is going to court to preserve the immigration status of four international students attending Michigan universities who risk deportation after the Trump administration revoked their ability to be in the state.

The lawsuit asks the court to reinstate the status of the students so that they will be able to complete their studies. Overall, at least 22 University of Michigan students, four Wayne State University students and an unknown number from Michigan State University, Grand Valley State, Western Michigan University and other schools have been impacted.

“This administration continues to act as if the most basic constitutional requirements don’t apply to them," said Loren Khogali, executive director of the ACLU of Michigan. "The right to due process is one of our most fundamental constitutional rights, requiring that a person receive sufficient notice to respond and challenge a government action . . .

“The aim of this administration is to sow chaos and fear by attacking some people to terrorize us all,” he added.

While it's not clear why the students had their immigration status revoked, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has acknowledged that many of the 300 targeted international students nationwide have connections to pro-Palestinian causes, according to the Detroit News.

Khogali is arguing the Trump administration failed to provide advance notice that they were stripping the students of their student immigrant status, and offered no viable opportunity to challenge the decision.

The lawsuit details how the termination of F-1 student status violates the students’ due process rights because the government is required to provide advance notice and a meaningful opportunity to respond when taking such action.

Additionally, the lawsuit states, the government is required to have specific legal grounds to terminate a student’s status. For that to happen, the student, for example, must fail to take full courses of study, engage in unauthorized employment, or be convicted of a violent crime. None of these grounds apply in these cases, Khogali argued.

In addition to attorneys from the ACLU of Michigan, the plaintiffs in the case are represented by ACLU cooperating attorneys from the law firms  Pitt, McGehee, Palmer, Bonanni & Rivers and Abrutyn Law.