COLUMBIA — A Nigerian doctoral student studying chemistry at the University of South Carolina is at risk of being removed from the U.S. after federal officials terminated the international student status that allows him to be in the country, according to a new lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The April 18 suit on behalf of fourth-year Ph.D. student Matthew Ariwoola, 32, asserts that the termination violated federal law and his constitutional right to due process.
His attorney from the ACLU of South Carolina has asked a federal judge to order Department of Homeland Security officials to restore Ariwoola's student status and prohibit government agents from arresting or removing him from the country.
"I am scared that I will be arrested, detained and put in removal proceedings," Ariwoola said in a legal filing.
District Judge Jacquelyn D. Austin, in Columbia, ordered late on April 18 that the federal government can't expel Ariwoola from the U.S. for 14 days, and that the termination of his student status shall "have no legal effect," allowing him to continue his research at the university.
The federal government has until April 25 to file a response to motion for the order. If necessary, a hearing will be set for May 2 in Greenville, the judge ordered.
He started studying at USC in 2021, researching how to make medication more effective by stabilizing the chemical compounds used to carry drugs to particular sites in the body, according to the lawsuit. His F-1 student visa was renewed in 2023, and he has been teaching four sections of an introduction to chemistry class this semester.
But on April 8, staff with the university's International Student and Scholar Support division told Ariwoola that his record in the online system used by the Department of Homeland Security to manage international students had been terminated.
That record is different than a visa. A visa governs someone's entry in the country, while their "student status," tracked by that online system, is the classification that governs the legality of their ongoing presence in the country.
Ariwola's visa had expired in February, according to the suit, but that expiration doesn't constitute the end of someone's student status nor can it serve as the basis for terminating that status. His lawful status in the country was set to continue through his studies, and he had been scheduled to graduate in December.
The reason for the termination listed in the online system was "OTHER – Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their VISA revoked. SEVIS record has been terminated.”
According to the lawsuit, though, Ariwoola had never been convicted of a crime. He also hadn't participated in any protests, which Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in March was cause for some visa revocations.
His only interaction with American police came in 2023 when he was arrested for theft by deception on a Georgia warrant despite never having been in Georgia. He wasn't required to appear in court, the lawsuit said, and the case was dismissed — but Ariwoola presumes that it prompted the termination of his student status.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Matthew is yet another victim of the Trump administration’s haphazard and flagrantly unconstitutional dragnet of our international students,” Allen Chaney, the state ACLU's legal director, said in a statement. “It’s hard to see how ejecting a hardworking and law-abiding doctoral student is anything but the product of an unmasked hatred of non-Americans. No one is better off if Matthew is deported, no one.”
The termination of his student status means Ariwoola is not allowed to teach or conduct his research, costing him the stipend he uses to pay rent and provide for his family.
USC recommended that Ariwoola "depart the United States as soon as possible," according to a screenshot of an email from the director of its International Student and Scholar Support division attached to a legal filing, as he could be subject to arrest and deportation.
The message also recommended that he speak with a listed immigration attorney, and it asked that he schedule a meeting with a division staffer and speak with his program director to see how to complete the semester and transfer credits to another school.
"Please know that we are here to help you as much as we can in these difficult times," the division director wrote.
"Several" international students at USC have had their visas revoked, as have two at Furman University, according to spokesmen for the schools. Neither university has confirmed whether those students also have lost their student status and are thus facing deportation.
USC spokesman Jeff Stensland declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Some international students at Clemson University are "facing unexpected changes" to their records in the online Homeland Security system, according to spokesman Joe Galbraith, who did not respond to questions seeking more detail but said the university was working to help them connect with the "appropriate resources."
Over 240 colleges and universities across the country have reported similar issues impacting more than 1,550 students, according to a list maintained by education news website Inside Higher Ed.
"I hope I can fulfill my dream of earning a Ph.D. here in South Carolina," Ariwoola said in a legal filing.