Judges bring Trump's sweeping plan to deport foreign students to a standstill
Source: NBC News
Judges bring Trump's sweeping plan to deport foreign students to a standstill
Multiple federal judges have rejected the administration's arguments for deporting foreign students who condemned the war in Gaza, but the Supreme Court could have the final say.
June 5, 2025, 5:00 AM EDT
By Chloe Atkins
President Donald Trump’s sweeping bid to deport foreign students who have condemned the war in Gaza has been brought to a standstill by federal judges who have repeatedly ruled against the administration, according to an NBC News review of recent court filings.
First, Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student, was arrested and transported hundreds of miles from his home. Then a graduate student at Tufts University in Massachusetts, Rümeysa Öztürk, was grabbed off the street by masked plainclothes federal agents. A third student, Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown University postdoctoral scholar and professor, was arrested at his home, while another Columbia student, Mohsen Mahdawi, was detained at his naturalization interview.
Since then, though, federal judges have rejected the administration’s arguments about court jurisdiction and the continued detention of three of the four students. Federal judges freed Öztürk, Mahdawi and Suri. And a ruling on Khalil’s possible release is expected soon.
In separate legal setbacks for the administration, federal appeals courts upheld lower courts’ orders requiring the government to transfer Öztürk to Vermont for a bail hearing and to release Mahdawi. And late last month, a judge issued an injunction blocking the administration from terminating the legal status of international students at universities across the United States.
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Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/judges-bring-trumps-sweeping-plan-deport-foreign-students-standstill-rcna210229