Across the United States, courts and universities are anxiously trying to resolve a wave of sudden visa revocations affecting F-1 students, many of whom are in good academic standing and close to graduation. A recent case in Utah involved a Japanese national, Mr. Suguru Onda, a doctoral student at Brigham Young University, whose student visa was suddenly revoked earlier this month.

Onda, has lived in Utah with his wife and children for several years but nevertheless was told his student visa had been canceled due to an unspecified “criminal records check.” His only minor infractions were two speeding tickets and a fishing citation from six years ago. The notice gave him 15 days to leave the U.S. or face deportation. But just minutes after his attorney, Adam Crayk, filed a federal lawsuit on Onda’s behalf, BYU received a phone call: Onda was reinstated. No negotiation, no hearing, no documentation. As Crayk said, “He is reinstated as if it was never revoked.”

The sudden reversal, with no explanation from U.S. immigration officials, is evidence of a troublesome trend across at least seven other states. From Washington to New Hampshire, federal courts are issuing injunctions and restraining orders to stop deportations triggered by SEVIS terminations that appear to violate due process.