Judge temporarily blocks ICE from detaining or deporting UW student

TACOMA – A federal judge in Tacoma on Thursday ordered the government to temporarily reinstate a University of Washington student’s legal status, blocking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from detaining or deporting him.

The student – referred to by the pseudonym “John Doe” in court documents – is one of at least four international students in Washington who is challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s termination of their records within a federal database, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, that tracks international student status.

Without that record, the student lost his legal standing in the U.S., halting his doctoral studies and placing him at risk of removal.

Chief U.S. District Judge David Estudillo granted a temporary restraining order, saying the government had not shown it followed its own rules in revoking Doe’s status.

“At least, my conclusion right now is that termination of the (student’s record in the database) leads to termination of lawful status,” Estudillo said in court Thursday. “And it does not appear, at least on its face right now, that the government has followed its own regulations.”

The decision blocks ICE from detaining or initiating removal proceedings against the student for the next two weeks. A hearing on a preliminary injunction is scheduled for May 1.

Doe’s case is one of several filed by international students in Washington in recent weeks, each alleging that ICE terminated their status without clear explanation or legal justification.

UW officials say more than 20 international students and recent alumni, including 12 enrolled in Seattle and one at UW Bothell, have had their legal status revoked under President Donald Trump’s administration. Other Washington institutions, including Gonzaga University, Seattle University and Washington State University, have also seen students’ visas revoked.

It’s about more than one student, said Doe’s attorney, Jay Gairson, in an interview before the hearing.

“We’ve seen terminations happen to hundreds of students nationwide – some with no charges at all, some flagged because of old fingerprints in a database,” Gairson said.

Whitney Passmore from the U.S. attorney’s office, who argued the government’s case, declined to comment after the hearing.

Doe, who is Chinese, first came to the country in 2021. He is eight months away from completing his doctoral studies and has a 3.8 GPA, according to court documents. There was no warning his status would be revoked, he said.

He’s requested to stay anonymous, he said in court filings, out of fear that he would be harassed or sent to a foreign prison.

“ICE has deported people to El Salvador based on unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct without due process, and I fear the same thing could happen to me,” he said.

In Doe’s case, ICE officials confirmed the termination stemmed from a 2023 arrest for suspected DUI. That case is still pending, and Doe hasn’t been convicted. Passmore said the DUI flag was “the sole reason” Doe’s record was terminated.

But under federal law, only a conviction for a crime of violence with a potential sentence of more than one year qualifies a student for SEVIS termination, Gairson said. A first-time DUI charge does not meet that threshold.

Estudillo pressed Passmore on whether the government could cite any regulation that authorizes termination based on a pending misdemeanor.

“I don’t find right now that there is a regulatory or statutory basis” for the termination, he said. “The government is not able to identify what was the basis … other than the general comment that it’s related to his DUI arrest.”

“I think ICE’s position, Your Honor, is that they have the general ability to establish and maintain that database, and that as part of that general maintenance of the database, they can make changes to it,” Passmore responded.

Without an active record in SEVIS, a student loses access to work authorization and, in some cases, may be required to leave the country within 15 days. Gairson said leaving the country would derail years of doctoral work that cannot easily be replicated elsewhere.

“Doctoral research is particularly unique in that oftentimes it is associated with a specific mentor or adviser,” he said. “To try to transfer credits and research to some other place overseas, where that adviser is not at, there is no guarantee, and most of the time it’s just simply not doable.”

In court, Estudillo noted that irreparable harm would result if Doe were detained or forced to abandon his program.

“There is a sufficient basis to find irreparable harm in the individual being subject to immediate detention … loss of continuity in studies, possibly losing his current placement and being able to pick up where he left off,” Estudillo said.

Attorneys representing international students say the recent terminations appear to rely on data from law enforcement or immigration databases – including biometric information like fingerprints – and often happen without formal charges or convictions.

Gairson said students have been flagged after encounters as minor as airport screenings or being listed as victims in law enforcement systems. “We don’t know what triggers the system,” he said. “But the consequences are immediate.”