Due to the policies introduced during former U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, the student visas of hundreds of international students were cancelled. According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), nearly half of these students are Indian.

As per AILA, a total of 327 students have had their visas revoked or their SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) records removed. Of these, 50% are Indian, 14% are from China, and the rest include students from South Korea, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

AILA criticized these cancellations as being unjustified and called for greater transparency, oversight, and accountability. They also requested that students whose records were wrongly removed be given a fair chance to appeal.

Following these events, many affected students turned to U.S. courts seeking protection. Courts in Massachusetts, Montana, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Washington D.C. issued emergency orders to stop deportations and protect students.

Among the affected is Krish Isserdasani, a 21-year-old Indian undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was arrested after a verbal argument near a bar in November on a charge of “disorderly conduct,” but the district attorney did not press charges. Despite this, the university terminated his SEVIS record on April 4. A federal judge in Wisconsin later ruled that this action was unlawful.