Finally a silver lining moment appeared for Priya Saxena, who is an Indian PhD student at a university in South Dakota, whom the Trump administration has been attempting to deport from the United States.
Indian PhD student, Wins Legal Battle To Stay In US
She has won a legal reprieve from a federal court which has allowed her to continue her stay in America.
This story started when 28-year-old Priya Saxena, who received a doctorate in chemical and biological engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology faced deportation after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unexpectedly revoked her F-1 student visa in April over a minor traffic violation.
They have terminated Saxena’s visa which was valid till February 2027.
Besides this, her Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVIS) record was deleted, which could have potentially prevented her from completing her studies and graduating on May 10.
In response to this, Saxena sued the Trump administration in mid-April and was granted a temporary restraining order by a federal judge further allowing her to complete her doctorate and graduate over the past weekend.
It appears that the Trump administration revoked Saxena’s student visa due to a “criminal record” against her as per the court documents.
However, her only infraction was from a minor traffic violation in 2021 when she failed “to stop for an emergency vehicle”, for which she paid a fine.
Minor Infractions Are Not Deportable Offences
In her defence, her attorney said that under immigration law, minor infractions like Saxena’s are not deportable offences, in a media report.
Moving ahead, a federal court in South Dakota issued a preliminary injunction blocking the DHS from arresting and detaining her without court approval, allowing her to stay in the country, this week.
According to the judge, DHS’s actions “appear unlawful and are likely to cause Saxena irreparable harm”, as per the media report.
As we already know, the Trump administration has launched a crackdown on immigration that has also targeted international students across the US since taking office in January.
During this time, they have removed the Visas and SEVIS of thousands of international students over minor infractions, traffic violations or pro-Palestinian activism on campus.
It appears that several of these students are being targeted by DHS and were in the US legally.
DHS told a court that it scanned the names of over 1 million international students through an FBI database to look for criminal records during a recent hearing.
Their search yielded 6,400 matches following which they have revoked approximately 3,000 visas.
