A class action lawsuit filed Friday asks a federal court to reinstate the legal status of international students caught up in a Trump administration crackdown that has left more than a thousand fearful of deportation.

The suit filed by several American Civil Liberties Union affiliates seeks to represent more than 100 students in New England and Puerto Rico.

"International students are a vital community in our state's universities, and no administration should be allowed to circumvent the law to unilaterally strip students of status, disrupt their studies, and put them at risk of deportation,” said Gilles Bissonnette, legal director of the ACLU of New Hampshire.

At schools around the country, students have seen their visas revoked or their legal status terminated, typically with little notice.

About 1,100 students at more than 170 colleges, universities and university systems have been affected since late March, according to an Associated Press review of university statements, correspondence with school officials and court records. The AP is working to confirm reports of hundreds more students affected.

Students have filed other lawsuits arguing they were denied due process. Federal judges have granted temporary restraining orders in New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Montana, shielding students from efforts to remove them from the US.

Plaintiffs in the new lawsuit, filed in federal court in New Hampshire, learned without warning their F-1 student statuses had been terminated, leaving in doubt their ability to stay in the country and finish their studies, according to the complaint.

One of them, Manikanta Pasula of India, was on the brink of getting his master's in computer science at Rivier University in New Hampshire and applying to remain in the country through a work programme for international students. Hangrui Zhang of China had come to the US for a PhD programme in electronic and computer science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. Now, he cannot work as a research assistant, which was his only source of income, the complaint said.

The government did not give notice it is required to provide before terminating a foreign student's legal status, the lawyers said.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department was revoking visas held by visitors who were acting counter to national interests, including some who protested Israel's war in Gaza and those who face criminal charges.

In some high-profile cases, such as that involving Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, the Trump administration has cited involvement in pro-Palestinian activism as a rationale for deportation.

But colleges say most students affected by visa revocations played no role in those protests. Many are being singled out over minor infractions such as traffic violations that occurred long ago, and in some cases the reason is unclear, colleges say.

Why is the government canceling international students' visas?

Visas can be canceled for a number of reasons, but colleges say some students are being singled out over infractions as minor as traffic violations, including some long in the past. In some cases, students say it's unclear why they were targeted.

“The timing and uniformity of these terminations leave little question that DHS has adopted a nationwide policy, whether written or not, of mass termination of student (legal) status,” ACLU of Michigan attorneys wrote in a lawsuit on behalf of students at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan.

How do student visas work?

Students in other countries must meet a series of requirements to obtain a student visa, usually an F-1. After gaining admission to a school in the U.S., students go through an application and interview process at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad.

Students on an F-1 visa must show they have enough financial support for their course of study in the U.S. They have to remain in good standing with their academic program and are generally limited in their ability to work off-campus during their academic program.

Entry visas are managed by the State Department. Once they're in the U.S., international students' legal status is overseen by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program under the Department of Homeland Security.