La Roche University international student sues feds over termination of status

A Saudi Arabian student at La Roche University in McCandless is suing the heads of U.S. Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement alleging they illegally terminated his status as an international student.

Khalid Alduaij, 26, filed the complaint Monday in federal court in Pittsburgh. On Wednesday, a judge granted a temporary restraining order setting aside the termination and prohibiting the federal government from ending his status without due process.

Alduaij is one of at least five people who have filed similar federal court actions in the Western District of Pennsylvania. In three of those, so far, the temporary restraining orders have been granted.

According to Alduaij’s filings, at least 23 such orders have been granted across the country in the last two weeks, including in New York, California, Illinois, Washington, D.C., Ohio and Arizona.

Dozens, if not hundred, of international students across the country have had their status under the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System terminated, prohibiting them from continuing their studies.

According to the lawsuit, Alduaij received notice his status had been terminated April 11. If he is removed from the country, the lawsuit said, the school said it would work with him.

“We’re exploring options right now,” said Natasha Garrett, the director of international student services for La Roche. “We may be able to offer some online opportunities to see what happens with his case.”

La Roche has 214 international students enrolled. Alduaij is its only student whose status has been terminated.

Because there are only two weeks left in the term, Vice President for Student Life Colleen Ruefle said the school will ensure Alduaij is at least able to finish the semester.

Alduaij came to the United States in August 2022 to study English at the University of Pittsburgh. He enrolled at La Roche in 2023 to study interior architecture.

“An American degree is highly respected in Saudi Arabia,” Alduaij wrote in an affidavit to the court.

Alduaij is slated to receive a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in May 2026. He said in the affidavit that the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission has paid more than $100,000 toward his schooling, including tuition, travel expenses and a monthly stipend.

“Mr. Alduaij devoted himself to his studies, uprooting himself from his home country to build a career and seek a better future. The SEVIS termination leaves him unable to continue the academic program in which he has invested tens of thousands of dollars and three years of his life,” the complaint said.

The lawsuit alleged ICE is acting outside the scope of the law in terminating Alduaij’s status.

According to the complaint, the only ways a student can lose their status is if they don’t maintain a full course of study, take an unauthorized job, provide false information to Homeland Security or are convicted of a crime of violence with a potential sentence of more than one year in prison.

Garrett said La Roche has been in touch with other schools dealing with the termination of international students’ status, and they have learned that asking the federal government for a data fix on their SEVIS records does not work.

Immigration attorneys have said international students are being targeted based on minor run-ins with law enforcement.

In Alduaij’s case, he was charged with driving under the influence in October by Port Authority police.

According to court records, he entered the Allegheny County Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program in March and is due to have his record cleared in September.

“Driving under the influence is not a crime involving moral turpitude that could make a student deportable, and Mr. Alduaij has not been convicted of a crime,” the lawsuit said.

The complaint includes claims under the federal Administrative Procedure Act and Fifth Amendment right to due process.

The lawsuit alleges Alduaij’s mental health has suffered. He is afraid to go outside.

“He is constantly stressed and anxious. He has difficulty sleeping,” the complaint said. “He fears that ICE will arrest him and deport him to a dangerous country that is not his own.”

A hearing on whether to grant a preliminary injunction in the case is scheduled for April 30