Free Version
Hed:
Feds,
former
student
to settle
Subhed:
Ex-UTB scholar
filed suit after
change in status
By MARK REAGAN
Staff Writer
Four federal officials have agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by a former University of Texas at Brownsville student who alleges that the university unlawfully terminated his foreign student status resulting in a negative domino effect on his life, court documents show.
The student, only known as John Doe, is a native of the Republic of India and sued Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Director L. Francis Cissna; USCIS Harlingen District Director Mario Ortiz; USCIS Field Office Director Norma A. Limon; the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; UTRGV Student Employment Coordinator Maria Aragelia Salazar; UTRGV Director of International Admissions and Student Services Samantha Lopez; and Associate Dean Javier A. Martinez last September.
The federal settlement does not apply to the UTRGV defendants.
Doe’s identity is not revealed in the litigation because it could result in adverse immigration against the man, according to court documents.
A more complete version of this story is available on www.myBrownsvilleHerald.com
Premium Version
Hed:
Feds,
former
student
to settle
Subhed:
Ex-UTB scholar
filed suit after
change in status
By MARK REAGAN
Staff Writer
Four federal officials have agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by a former University of Texas at Brownsville student who alleges that the university unlawfully terminated his foreign student status resulting in a negative domino effect on his life, court documents show.
The student, only known as John Doe, is a native of the Republic of India and sued Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Director L. Francis Cissna; USCIS Harlingen District Director Mario Ortiz; USCIS Field Office Director Norma A. Limon; the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; UTRGV Student Employment Coordinator Maria Aragelia Salazar; UTRGV Director of International Admissions and Student Services Samantha Lopez; and Associate Dean Javier A. Martinez last September.
The federal settlement does not apply to the UTRGV defendants.
Doe’s identity is not revealed in the litigation because it could result in adverse immigration against the man, according to court documents.
The main allegation against UTRGV levied by Doe is that then-UTB terminated his immigration status after he was suspended May 16, 2013, according to the lawsuit, which states that Salazar, who at the time was in charge of international students, did not notify him until June 4, 2013.
This violated UTB’s policy, according to the lawsuit, because the university grants suspended international students 21 days to gain admission to another university to avoid having their immigration status terminated. Furthermore, Doe states in the lawsuit that he had already been admitted to three different schools months earlier and that Salazar not only knew it, she hosted a farewell party for the student April 30.
“Even after perjuring herself, Salazar displayed no remorse and minimized the effect her perjury would have on Doe when she ignored an opportunity to admit wrongdoing and reverse the termination by a process known to her,” the lawsuit states.
The settlement for the federal defendants, which was announced Monday, states that the parties agree that within 30 days of Doe securing admission to a university before Dec. 31, 2018, he will request reinstatement of his student status with USCIS and then dismiss the federal claims against the federal defendants.
Lawyers for Doe and UTRGV announced Tuesday that settlement negotiations between those parties are at a standstill.
Doe also alleges that two years after his immigration status was suspended, he discovered that there is a data correction process that could have rectified the alleged error in his status with USCIS.
According to the lawsuit, UTB had up to five months to explain the error to USCIS and restore Doe’s student status.
Doe alleges that Lopez, who replaced Salazar, admitted to him Sept. 15, 2015, that his student status termination was premature and therefore wrongful, according to the lawsuit.
After Sept. 15, 2015, Doe said in the litigation that USCIS gave him a rare opportunity by reopening that five-month correction window, but Lopez told USCIS in February 2016 that Doe failed to submit a request for transfer, reaffirming UTB’s position on lawful termination. Doe argues that UTB’s termination policy did not require him to do that.
Doe is seeking damages for mental anguish, lost earnings and lost educational opportunities.
“Doe’s life changed overnight after his student status was terminated,” the lawsuit states, describing his life as a nightmare existence.
He couldn’t get a job, and schools questioned his legal ability to enroll. He had to live off the charity of friends.
“The little money he had managed to save from his jobs would soon dwindle. He moved into basements and garages where friends would let him stay, for varying periods of time, until he was asked to leave,” the lawsuit states.
The litigation claims he lives off $2 per day, doesn’t break any laws, doesn’t drive and that his parents in India think that he is still in school, continuing his studies.
A UTRGV spokesperson did not respond to an email providing the opportunity for the university to comment, and the university has asked that the lawsuit be dismissed.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. on Tuesday said a ruling regarding UTRGV’s motion to dismiss is forthcoming, court records show.
