Judge puts UW student’s deportation on hold

A federal judge put a hold on an immigration officials’ move to deport an international student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Federal District Judge William Conley issued a temporary restraining order on Tuesday blocking federal immigration authorities from terminating the F-1 student visa of UW-Madison student Krish Isserdasani.

Isserdasani, 21, is just weeks away from earning a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from the UW. His student visa was unexpectantly terminated this month. Federal authorities demand he leave the country by May 2 — eight days before his graduation.

According to court records, the visa termination is tied to an incident on Nov. 22, 2024, when Isserdasani was arrested for misdemeanor disorderly conduct after he and his friends got into an argument with another group of people after leaving a bar.

Isserdasani was arrested but prosecutors declined to pursue charges. He never appeared in court and believed the matter was resolved with no possible consequences to his immigration status.

The UW-Madison’s International Student Services offices informed Isserdasani by email on April 4 that his visa had been terminated. The reason given in the email was: “Otherwise failing to maintain status — Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their VISA revoked.”

In his order, Conley said federal authorities offered nothing to suggest Isserdasani deserves to be deported before earning his degree.

“He was given no warning, no opportunity to explain or defend himself, and no chance to correct any potential misunderstanding before his F-1 student visa record was terminated in SEVIS,” he wrote.

Madison attorney Shabnam Lotfi filed the request for the restraining order. He wrote, “these international students have done absolutely nothing wrong. They have followed U.S. laws and fully complied with the terms of their student status. They do not deserve this. America must speak out against this injustice and not allow the Administration to distort the facts for their own political purposes.”

The federal government revoked visas for hundreds of international students across the country earlier this month. Fifteen current students and 12 recent alumni who work on the UW-Madison campus had their visas revoked as part of that action.