A federal judge ordered President Donald Trump and his administration to restore Ohio State University graduate student Ahwar Sultan's status as an international student Friday morning.
U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan in D.C. has ordered the Trump administration and the other defendants to restore Sultan's record in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) to "active" status.
Sultan is an international student in Ohio State's Department of Comparative Studies. He is currently working on his master's thesis at OSU and wants to start a Ph.D. in art history.
Chutkan also said the federal government is not allowed to modify or change Sultan's status solely on the basis of his arrest on April 25, 2024 at the Ohio State University and subsequent dismissal of that charge.
Chutkan's order also said the Trump administration needs to ensure that a representative of the United States Department of Homeland Security is present at its next scheduled hearing who can make authoritative representations to the court on behalf of the agency and the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The judge wrote that specifically, this representative needs to explain to the court what Sultan’s F-1 student visa legal status is and whether the Trump administration intends to initiate removal proceedings against him.
Chutkan's order comes after Sultan and the Students for Justice in Palestine student organization at Ohio State sued in federal court to halt the action against Sultan earlier this month. Their lawsuit argued the Trump administration targeted Sultan for deportation and retaliation his participation in the peaceful pro-Palestinian protests.
Sultan said at a press conference on Ohio State's campus Thursday that he feels like he's been thrown into "legal limbo." He said he fears deportation and abduction by immigration authorities.
"What is happening to me and other students across the country is only a symptom of, number one, a Zionist attack on pro-Palestinian political speech; number two, a xenophobic attack on migrants; and number three, a fascist attack on higher education," Sultan said.
Sultan said he's terrified of the situation.
"It's been isolating, it's been scary, I've been paranoid," Sultan said. "I don't know where I stand in relation to the state right now. And I don't think the state knows either given what we are hearing in court from them."
Sultan's lawyer, Jana Al-Akhras, said Thursday she thinks the federal government is purposefully obfuscating the issue as students are winning.
"I think that's the important thing to note here today is that the Trump administration has opened up a Pandora's box when it comes to this and have assumed that they can operate with impunity and that they are not subject to the law," Al-Akhras said.
She said students like Sultan have First Amendment rights to free speech and protest while in the U.S. and the Trump Administration is violating those rights.
Sultan was one of 12 Ohio State students and hundreds of other college students around the country who had their international student visas revoked by the Trump Administration.
Sultan's arrest a year ago occurred at a protest on Ohio State's South Oval where dozens of other students and community members were arrested as police broke up the protest. The protest was against Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza and called on the university to halt investments in Israel.
Sultan and the others were charged with criminal trespassing, but those charges were dismissed and expunged in Franklin County court.
The Trump administration has arrested others for participating in these protests and speaking out against the war. These include Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts University student and Turkish citizen Rümeysa Öztürk.
Sultan spoke out against his international student status being changed by the Trump Administration at the Thursday press conference.
"I am subject to this risk in the first place because I tried to speak up for Palestine. I thereby invited upon myself a fraction of the violence that Palestinians have been perennially subjected to," Sultan said.
Jineen Musa, an organizer with Students for Justice in Palestine was charged with trespassing for using a loudspeaker to amplify hers and Sultan's voices at the event. Sultan and Al-Akhras, his lawyer, were threatened with arrest but would not be charged.
The three also criticized Ohio State University and called on the university to protect Sultan and the students like him. Sultan said he has lost faith in OSU and would not recommend attending OSU to other international students.
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