The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire filed a federal lawsuit Monday on behalf of a Dartmouth College doctoral student whose immigration status was abruptly terminated.
Xiaotian Liu, 26, a Chinese citizen who has been studying computer science at the Ivy League school in Hanover, N.H., since September 2023, wasn’t given a reason for the US Department of Homeland Security’s decision to terminate his student status, according to his ACLU attorneys.
“He has not committed a traffic violation, let alone a crime, in the United States. Nor has he participated in any protest in the United States or elsewhere,” they wrote in Xiaotian’s legal complaint. “He came to the United States to study computer science.”
Xiaotian isn’t alone. International students at other universities have recently had their visas revoked by the Trump administration in similar fashion. Unlike some high-profile cases that have made headlines in recent weeks, however, these revocations appear to be unrelated to pro-Palestinian protests over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
Dartmouth notified Xiaotian via email on Friday that DHS had terminated his student status, according to the ACLU attorneys.
A spokesperson for Dartmouth said late Monday the college is aware of two international students whose records were terminated in the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Information System.
“Dartmouth was not notified of these record changes,” the spokesperson said. “They were discovered by Dartmouth staff during a proactive check of the SEVIS database.”
The college has directly contacted both of the individuals affected so far and will continue to monitor the database and notify anyone else who may be affected by future changes, the spokesperson said.
Gilles Bissonnette, legal director of the ACLU of New Hampshire, said his team is alarmed by the Trump administration’s actions in this case and others like it.
“International students are a vital community in our state’s universities, and no administration should be allowed to circumvent the law to unilaterally strip students of status, disrupt their studies, and put them at risk of deportation,” Bissonnette said in a statement.
Because his student status was terminated, Xiaotian can no longer pursue his PhD and or work as a research assistant, and he’s also at risk for immediate detention and deportation, according to the ACLU attorneys.
Xiaotian’s lawsuit emphasizes that he isn’t challenging the revocation of his F-1 visa. Rather, he is challenging the termination of his student status.
The ACLU attorneys argue a student whose visa is revoked after they are present in the United States may continue their studies, and visa revocation isn’t a sufficient standalone basis to terminate one’s student status in the SEVIS program.
Xiaotian first came to the United States in 2016 to study computer science at Wake Forest University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2020.
Xiaotian took a two-semester “gap” during his master’s program, due to delays related to his visa renewal and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to his lawsuit.
He returned in 2022, finished a master’s degree in 2023, enrolled in his PhD program, and traveled internationally multiple times in 2024, according to his lawsuit.
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.