A federal court has ordered the Trump administration to restore the legal immigration status of Ahwar Sultan, an Ohio State University graduate student who was arrested during a 2024 demonstration.
Sultan, originally from India, initiated a lawsuit in Washington D.C.’s District Court on April 15th, asserting that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had “unlawfully terminated” his F-1 student visa following his involvement in protests concerning Israeli military actions in Gaza. Documents filed with the court detail this claim.
According to Sultan’s legal team, charges stemming from his arrest at a protest on April 25th, 2024, were subsequently dismissed and removed from his record.
The sequence of events unfolded rapidly. Just one week prior to the visa revocation notice, Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly stated that the State Department had terminated the visas of hundreds of international students. Shortly thereafter, Sultan was informed by Ohio State University officials that his legal status in the United States was no longer valid.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s ruling mandates the immediate reinstatement of Sultan’s visa and prohibits the administration from altering his record based solely on his arrest during the protest, as confirmed by court documentation.
While this is a significant victory for Sultan, a forthcoming hearing will provide Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials an opportunity to elaborate on the rationale behind the initial status change and whether they plan to pursue deportation proceedings against him.
The lawsuit, filed not only by Sultan but also by the Students for Justice in Palestine at OSU, names several high-ranking officials: President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Rubio, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and ICE Director Todd Lyons.
Sultan’s case is part of a larger trend; he is one of at least a dozen Ohio State students whose visas have recently been revoked.
This decision follows closely on the heels of another federal court ruling – issued by a Biden-appointed judge in Georgia – which ordered the administration to reinstate the legal statuses of 133 other international students who had their F-1 visas similarly revoked by ICE and DHS.
Ohio State University has not yet responded to requests for comment.
