A federal district judge in Georgia issued a temporary restraining order Friday blocking the Trump administration from terminating the legal status of 133 international students who had joined a lawsuit alleging that the government had violated their due process rights.

Judge Victoria Marie Calvert granted the plaintiffs’ request to restore the F-1 student status and work authorizations of these 133 international students. The plaintiffs alleged that the federal government had unlawfully terminated their legal status without giving them proper notice or an opportunity to respond.

The ruling came the same day as a similar lawsuit, filed in New Hampshire, challenged the Trump administration’s mass cancellation of student visas, escalating the legal fight over the federal government’s treatment of international students.

As of Friday, the Trump administration had terminated the legal status of over 1,550 international students, according to a tally from Inside Higher Ed. Some of the revocations have targeted pro-Palestinian activists, but others have impacted students who weren’t involved in campus demonstrations.

According to the lawsuit filed in Georgia, international students were notified that their records were terminated in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS, a federal database that monitors international students. SEVIS attributed the decisions to a criminal records check, visa revocation or both. However, the plaintiffs don’t have criminal histories, according to court documents.

Calvert said the international students were likely to succeed in their arguments that the Trump administration overstepped its legal authority when it terminated their SEVIS records. Calvert pointed to students’ concerns that they would lose educational access, scholarships and career opportunities as a result of the terminations.

“Many Plaintiffs are mere weeks away from attaining their degrees,” Calvert wrote. “The loss of timely academic progress alone is sufficient to establish irreparable harm.”

Calvert’s order expires in early May.

The New Hampshire lawsuit makes similar arguments, alleging that the Trump administration has violated federal law and flouted international students’ due process rights by abruptly terminating their legal status.

Read the full article about international students' legal status by Natalie Schwartz at Higher Ed Dive.