Indian PhD Graduate Facing Deportation Wins Legal Battle To Stay In US

Priya Saxena, an Indian PhD student at a university in South Dakota, whom the Trump administration has been attempting to deport from the United States, has won a legal reprieve from a federal court, allowing her to stay in America. The 28-year-old  who recently 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.

After Saxena's visa was terminated -- which was valid till February 2027 -- 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. But, Saxena sued the Trump administration in mid-April and was granted a temporary restraining order by a federal judge. This allowed her to complete her doctorate and graduate over the past weekend.

According to court documents, the Trump administration revoked Saxena's student visa due to a "criminal record" against her. But 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. 

Her attorney told The Guardian that under immigration law, minor infractions like Saxena's are not deportable offences.

This week, 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. The judge said DHS's actions "appear unlawful and are likely to cause Saxena irreparable harm", The Guardian report said. 

Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has launched a crackdown on immigration that has also targeted international students across the US. Visas and SEVIS of thousands of international students were removed over minor infractions, traffic violations or pro-Palestinian activism on campus. Most of the students targeted by DHS were in the US legally. 

During a recent hearing, DHS told a court that it scanned the names of over 1 million international students through an FBI database to look for criminal records. The search yielded 6,400 matches, following which approximately 3,000 visas were revoked.