A pair of Oregon college students suing the Trump administration for revoking their legal statuses will be allowed to stay in the country at least until their cases conclude.

On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane ordered immigration authorities to restore their statuses and give the students a 15-day notice before changing their visas in the future. The students are a doctoral student at Oregon State University and a master’s student at the University of Oregon.

The move extends the judge’s earlier, temporary order that was set to expire Friday.

McShane wrote in his 13-page decision that attorneys for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have never explained their legal justification for going into a government-controlled database and quietly deleting the students’ statuses.

“Deafening silence has been the only response by the defendants in explaining, let alone justifying, the actions taken here,” the judge wrote.

Federal government attorneys said in court filings that the judge didn’t need to issue the order because the students’ statuses have already been restored. But McShane said that he insisted on making it official with a court ruling.

The federal government has recently dialed back its plans to deport international students in the country after facing several lawsuits. McShane said that the government hadn’t shown that it couldn’t suddenly revert back.

“The court finds it impossible to trust that, absent an injunction, defendants will not terminate plaintiffs’ student status yet again,” McShane wrote.

In McShane’s view, the students’ attorneys successfully argued that they face “irreparable harm” if immigration authorities pivot back and attempt deportation.

Aaron Ortega Gonzalez, 32, had to pause his work as a Ph.D student and researcher at OSU, where he studies wildfires’ impact on ranchlands. His work as a research assistant is his sole source of income, his attorney said.

The University of Oregon student, who has not been identified by name, missed a trip to Washington D.C. that was important for her master’s thesis. Court records say she is studying conflict resolution and communication.

Neither student was alerted at first when their statuses were revoked, court filings show. Their universities weren’t told, either.

The Homeland Security Department oversees a large database of student visa information and recently began accessing it, rewriting numerous students’ immigration status. For both Oregon students, they wrote generic notes to explain the change: “Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their VISA revoked.”

Neither student had been convicted of a crime while in the country.

Attorneys at Innovation Law Lab, a nonprofit representing Ortega Gonzalez, celebrated the Friday decision. Executive Director Stephen Manning said in a statement that it underscores the importance of due process.

“The court’s ruling very thoughtfully balances the interests of stakeholders for a fair result,” Manning said. “It is a critical step forward to restoring our normal system of government, by and for the people, where the government cannot just snatch important things from us without process.”

Federal immigration authorities did not immediately respond to questions about the ruling.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/05/09/federal-judge-ruling-oregon-students-visas/