A federal judge has ordered the administration of President Donald Trump to reinstate an Ohio State University graduate student’s legal status after it was revoked in the wake of his participation in an anti-Israel protest.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled the administration “cannot modify [Ahwar Sultan’s] record solely based on his arrest at the protest,” Fox News Channel reported, citing court documents. The judge ordered the administration to update Sultan’s status to “active” in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), WOSU reported.
The ruling comes after Sultan, an Indian citizen and Ohio State University graduate student, sued the Trump administration, alleging it revoked his F-1 visa because he participated in a pro-Palestine protest.
Sultan was arrested during an April 25, 2024, protest and detained for 12 hours before his release. The charges, alleging that he formed a protective barrier around praying students, were dismissed and expunged from his record after he completed 10 hours of community service and attended a civil discourse workshop.
Sultan and his attorney, Jana Al-Akhras, held a media gaggle, taking some reporters’ questions. However, when asked by Ohio.news, Sultan’s lawyer did not deny her client is an anti-Semite.
For its part, the university seemed pleased with the outcome.
“While this appears to be a positive development, the university is eager to receive more details on the new SEVIS policy framework that is mentioned in numerous reports,” Ohio State University spokesman Chris Booker said, per the WOSU report.
Additionally, following Chutkan’s order, federal lawyers said the government would reverse the legal status termination of international students.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “is developing a policy that will provide a framework for SEVIS record terminations,” a government lawyer emailed the attorney for a plaintiff in a separate lawsuit, according to the Associated Press. “Until such a policy is issued, the SEVIS records … will remain Active or shall be re-activated if not currently active and ICE will not modify the record solely based on the NCIC finding that resulted in the recent SEVIS record termination.”
Sultan and the Ohio State University chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine filed a federal lawsuit, naming Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons.
The lawsuit accuses the Trump administration of violating Sultan’s civil rights, including his First Amendment right to free speech.
“It’s been isolating, it’s been scary, I’ve been paranoid,” WOSU quoted Sultan as saying. “I don’t know where I stand in relation to the state right now. And I don’t think the state knows either given what we are hearing in court from them.”
A dozen Ohio State University students have had their visas revoked as of April 11.
Inside Higher Ed previously reported that the feds have revoked the visas of at least 30 students at Ohio colleges or universities. Nationally, federal officials have revoked the visas of more than 1,400 students, according to the publication’s tally, and federal officials have said they will continue to crack down on foreign students who participate in anti-American activities.
An F-1 student visa allows foreigners “to enter the United States as a full-time student at an accredited college, university, seminary, conservatory, academic high school, elementary school, or other academic institution or in a language training program,” according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. They “must be enrolled in a program or course of study that culminates in a degree, diploma, or certificate and [a] school must be authorized by the U.S. government to accept foreign students.”
