Our Bureau
Washington, DC
A federal judge stopped the government’s attempt to deport 21-year-old Indian student Krish Lal Isserdasani, winning a significant battle against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Isserdasani, a University of Wisconsin-Madison student, had his student visa revoked a few weeks prior to his graduation.
Isserdasani was scheduled to graduate in early May, and the court order dated April 15 stopped the Department of Homeland Security from canceling the student visa or holding him in custody.
Indian student Krish Lal Isserdasani is enrolled in the University of Wisconsin-Madison on an F-1 student visa. He plans to graduate in early May with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering.
As per the court order, the engineering student was arrested on November 22, 2024, on suspicion of misdemeanour and disorderly conduct after he, along with some of his friends, got into an argument with some people after leaving a bar. He was not found guilty in the case, nevertheless.
On April 4, Isserdasani’s student visa was revoked. After his record was deleted from the government’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVIS) database, he petitioned the court through his lawyer, Shabnam Lotfi, for a temporary restraining order against deportation.
In his decision on Tuesday, US District Judge William Conley deemed the Trump administration’s actions against Isserdasani to be unfair, pointing out that the Indian student was not given due process when his visa was revoked.
The order said, “He was given no warning, no opportunity to explain or defend himself, and no chance to correct any potential misunderstanding before his F-1 student visa record was terminated in SEVIS.”
The court observed that the student’s academic future was at risk due to the sudden termination of his visa, which also had serious financial and personal consequences.
The judge wrote, “Given the amount of Isserdasani’s educational expenses and potential losses from having to leave the United States without obtaining his degree, the court concludes that Isserdasani credibly demonstrates that he faces irreparable harm for which he has no adequate remedy at law in the absence of injunctive relief.”
A hearing for a preliminary injunction was scheduled for April 28 by the court.
The order is reportedly one of the first nationwide wins for foreign student visa holders whose records were canceled, according to Lotfi, Isserdasani’s lawyer.
