Earlier this week, a federal judge ordered the United States government to reinstate the visa status of two international students studying in Oregon, including a 29-year-old University of Oregon student. The reinstatement by U.S. District Judge Michael McShane also granted a 14-day temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit filed by the UO student.
The judge also temporarily blocked both students’ deportation from the country.
What the lawsuit alleged
According to the court documents obtained by The Daily Emerald, the UO student filed under the pseudonym “Jane Doe,” due to “fear of retaliation by (the) Defendants and private persons who have physically injured her in the past.”
“Jane Doe also fears harassment and doxxing from the public given the public and institutional animosity expressed toward people in the United States who are not citizens,” the court documents said.
Jane Doe was born and raised in England and arrived at UO in 2022, where she is currently pursuing two master’s degrees, an M.S. in Conflict & Dispute Resolution and an M.A. in Journalism.
The court documents alleged that United States Government officials Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Todd Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and ICE violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act for terminating Jane Doe’s F-1 student status.
For these reasons, Jane Doe sought an order that would set aside and declare unlawful “Defendants’ termination of her SEVIS status” and the restoration of her SEVIS record and status.
Specifically, Jane Doe sought a temporary restraining order that would restore her authorization to study and work and require the Defendants to set aside the evidence behind the termination of her SEVIS.
Prior to the termination of Jane Doe’s SEVIS, she worked as a teaching assistant for the university. This job was her “only source of income” at the time. As a result of her SEVIS record termination, she stopped working — leaving her without a source of income and a reason why she would have likely suffered irreparable harm if she was not granted a Temporary Restraining Order, according to the court documents.
In addition, the documents cited the likeliness of Jane Doe succeeding on the merits of her Administrative Procedure Act and Fifth Amendment claims, and “the balance of the equities and public interest weigh(ing) heavily” in favor of the emergency relief as further reasons why the Temporary Restraining Order should have been granted.
What led to the lawsuit
On April 5, Jane Doe received notice from UO’s Director of International Student Services Becky Crabtree that her SEVIS student status was terminated the day prior for “OTHERWISE FAILING TO MAINTAIN STATUS – Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their VISA revoked. SEVIS record has been terminated,” according to the court documents.
The notice also indicated that Jane Doe had 15 days to leave the country — after April 20, Jane Doe was at risk of arrest, detention and deportation, according to the documents.
According to the court documents, Jane Doe has not received any traffic infractions or been convicted of a crime, all while staying in compliance with the terms and conditions of her student status and course studies — this was also cited as reasons why the Defendants violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
But the court documents said that Jane Doe’s only contact with law enforcement was in 2019, relating to a domestic abuse incident that led to her arrest — the charges against her were later dismissed.
According to the court documents, the Defendants violated the Fifth Amendment because they terminated Jane Doe’s F-1 student status under SEVIS without notice, an individualized hearing before “an impartial adjudicator, adverse evidence and an opportunity to confront and respond to “such evidence.”
How the UO community is supporting Jane Doe
As part of Jane Doe’s effort to seek reinstatement and a Temporary Restraining order, three UO professors wrote letters on her behalf, which were recorded in the court documents.
Director of the Criminology Minor and an Instructor of the Department of Sociology Stephanie Wiley wrote that she was “saddened not only for her (Jane Doe) and her education, but for my (Wiley) students and the quality of education they will receive due to this disruption.”
Jiannbin “J” Lee Shiao, a professor and the department head of Sociology, wrote that based on comments by Jane Doe’s supervising instructors in Sociology and Shiao’s own interactions with Jane Doe, “she has been an excellent Teaching Assistant.”
“Having served as Associate Head for many years before becoming Department Head, I can say that UO Sociology has been extremely lucky to find such a reliable external-TA in (Jane Doe),” Shiao wrote.
According to UO spokesperson Eric Howald, the university continues “to support our students and appreciate the judge’s ruling.”
“This ruling is a positive development for a student close to completing their degree and making a positive impact on society, and the UO community,” Howald said.
