A US federal court docket has reportedly dominated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acted unlawfully when it cancelled the visa standing of an Indian-origin scholar over a site visitors ticket that had already been dismissed. The case centres on Akshar Patel, an F-1 scholar whose authorized standing was terminated after ICE flagged a minor, years-old dashing matter throughout a mass database sweep of worldwide college students. The choose stated the choice was arbitrary and lacked a lawful foundation, rebuking the company for ending Patel’s scholar standing with out warning or due course of and forcing him to halt his research.Patel is an Indian nationwide who entered the US on an F-1 scholar visa and was learning on the College of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. He’s a non-public particular person with no legal convictions. The one incident cited by the federal government was a 2018 site visitors case associated to dashing or reckless driving that was absolutely dismissed.In early 2025, ICE launched what officers described because the “Pupil Felony Alien Initiative” and reportedly ran the names of roughly 1.3 million worldwide college students by a federal crime database. Any match, together with arrests, citations or dismissed instances, might set off motion. Patel’s identify surfaced as a result of dismissed 2018 ticket, after which ICE terminated his SEVIS file. This immediately positioned him out of standing, barred him from lessons and uncovered him to elimination danger.Patel sued ICE, arguing that the termination violated the Administrative Process Act and primary due course of protections. The case was heard by Ana C. Reyes, who ordered Patel’s standing restored early within the proceedings and sharply criticised ICE’s course of as arbitrary and capricious. The court docket famous there was no conviction and no proof that Patel posed any danger.On 27 February, the court docket reportedly issued a closing ruling on the deserves and sided with Patel. The choose held that ICE’s termination of his F-1 standing was arbitrary and illegal, and rejected the federal government’s try to dismiss the case as moot after quietly restoring his file. The choice formally condemns the company’s reliance on dismissed or minor infractions to finish scholar standing.
