The lawsuit is challenging the Trump administration’s unilateral termination of international students’ status, which disrupts studies, risks deportation, and harms Maine communities.
The ACLU of Maine joined a federal class action lawsuit seeking to represent over 100 students in Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico who had their F-1 student immigration status unlawfully and abruptly terminated with no specified reason as to why. Since the lawsuit was filed late last week, the ACLU of Maine has confirmed at least one student in Maine has been affected. The lawsuit asks the court to reinstate their F-1 student status, which would allow them to continue their studies.
"I am in the process of completing my graduate studies at the Roux Institute, but this month I received an email from my university stating that my F-1 student status on SEVIS had been terminated by the government,” said a graduate student based in Portland. The student is choosing not to identify themself for their safety. “As a result, I can no longer go to class or work. The termination of my student status is a significant concern for me because my legal status in the United States is dependent on the SEVIS record. Because of this termination, I have had to stop being involved in my community and I had to cancel my plans to visit my family this spring."
“No administration, regardless of party, should be allowed to circumvent the law to unilaterally strip students of status, disrupt their studies, and put them at risk of deportation,” said ACLU of Maine Chief Counsel Zach Heiden. “Abruptly terminating a student’s status is not only disruptive for these students and their universities, but it also weakens Maine communities. Students come to Maine because of our nation’s historical commitment to academic freedom. These students contribute to research, work for local companies, and become part of their community.”
According to the lawsuit, these unilateral and unlawful terminations have severely disrupted the educational opportunities of these students who are in the middle of their studies (and in the middle of a semester) and who are simply trying to obtain, often at considerable expense, an education in the United States while following all the rules required of them. With terminated F-1 statuses, they are also now at dire risk of detention and deportation.
These terminations by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have been occurring since at least March 1, 2025, and have impacted hundreds, if not thousands, of international students throughout the United States. Inside Higher Ed estimates that, as of April 17, 2025, over 210 colleges and universities have identified 1,400-plus international students and recent graduates who have had their legal status changed. This includes 112 across New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico.
The lawsuit details how the unlawful termination of these students’ F-1 status violates their due process rights, as the government is required to provide advance notice and a meaningful opportunity to respond. Additionally, the lawsuit states that the government is required to have grounds in order to terminate a student status, and that the revocation of an F-1 visa is not sufficient grounds to terminate student status.
To terminate student status, the student, for example, must fail to take full courses of study, engage in unauthorized employment, or be convicted of a violent crime with a potential sentence of more than a year. For those who would be represented in this case, none of those situations exist.
“We continue to be alarmed by the Trump administration’s sudden termination of student statuses at universities across the country without any notice or stated explanation,” said Gilles Bissonnette, Legal Director of the ACLU of New Hampshire. “International students are a vital community in our state’s universities, and no administration should be allowed to circumvent the law to unilaterally strip students of status, disrupt their studies, and put them at risk of deportation.”
Steven Brown, Executive Director of the ACLU of Rhode Island, said, “It’s disturbing that several international students studying here in Rhode Island, at both Brown University and RISD, have had their student status determinations revoked without explanation. The Trump Administration's actions against these students are a blatant violation of due process. We’re a part of this class-action suit to protect them and others who have had to suddenly leave their studies and face possible deportation for absolutely no legitimate reason."
Ronald L. Abramson, Chair of the Immigration Law Group at Shaheen & Gordon, said, “Today’s filing reflects the reality that all of the international students impacted by these ill-advised and illegal student visa terminations deserve immediate, unqualified protection from the potentially draconian consequences of the government’s unjustified actions.”
The lawsuit was filed on April 18, 2025, in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire by the ACLUs of New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Puerto Rico, and law firm Shaheen & Gordon of Manchester.
The ACLU of New Hampshire recently filed a separate lawsuit on behalf of a Dartmouth College student whose F-1 student status had similarly been terminated. A federal judge temporarily restored his status during an emergency hearing last week.
See relevant legal documents in the PDFs at the bottom of this page.
