There appears to be some respite for certain students at a time when the international student community is going through a difficult period due to the cancellation of hundreds of study visas.
Students all around America are suing the Trump administration for revoking their study visas and forcing them to leave the nation. The federal judges reviewing these cases are granting TROs on behalf of students who allege their student statuses were unjustly revoked.
In a recent court case in favour of a revoked student, a federal judge in Columbus issued a temporary restraining order in favor of an Ohio State University graduate student whose student visa was revoked by the Trump administration.
On Tuesday, April 22, U.S. District Court Judge Algenon L. Marbey of the Southern District of Ohio granted the TRO in favor of Prasanna Oruganti, an international doctoral student from India pursuing a Ph.D. in agricultural engineering, reports The Columbus Dispatch.
The ruling orders US authorities to reinstate Oruganti’s F-1 student visa. The agencies are also prohibited from taking any further action or legal consequences as a result of terminating Oruganti’s visa, including detaining her or placing her in deportation proceedings, according to the ruling.
The lawsuits filed by students claim that by terminating their records, US authorities are ending the students’ status and making them deportable.
US courts have started granting temporary restraining orders (TRO) which is an emergency measure that is aimed at preventing immediate and irreparable harm to the complaining party during the period required to conduct a hearing on a preliminary injunction.
At the same time, there have been several instances where the courts have asked President Donald Trump’s administration to reinstate the legal status of international students by granting temporary restraining orders (TRO) on behalf of those plaintiffs.
In other instance, on April 18, the court ordered the Trump government to reinstate the 133 plaintiffs’ SEVIS statuses, reversing all termination orders since March 31, 2025.