ATLANTA — An Atlanta federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on Friday, putting a stop to international students having their visas revoked for a few weeks.
The order from Judge Victoria Marie Calvert granted a restraining order to more than 100 students who filed the motion anonymously. It lasts for the next two weeks.
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It states that the defendants, including U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, must reinstate the students’ visa status.
Thousands of international students nationwide say they have lost their visas over the last week, putting them at risk of possible deportation.
Attorney Dustin Baxter told Channel 2’s Courtney Francisco that he’s representing dozens of students in metro Atlanta who say they are among those who say their future is at risk.
“What we understand is that DOGE was given access to all these student records, all these visa files, and they probably ran some AI that gave them all these hits if they searched for things related to arrests or tickets or citations, and they just were able to get a batch of people,” Baxter said.
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Baxter said he and his clients filed a federal lawsuit asking a judge to stop the government from deporting them and reinstate their visa status.
“These people are petrified that if they speak up that ICE is going to come knocking at their door. In fact, most of the people who have come to our case have indicated to us that they are just not going to leave their house,” Baxter said.
He says that most of his clients studied at Georgia Tech, Georgia Southern, Kennesaw State, the University of Georgia and Emory University.
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You can read Judge Calvert’s full order below.
Order Granting Temporary Restraining Order by Jennifer Smith on Scribd
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