An Iranian PhD student at the University of Connecticut named Elika Shams has filed a lawsuit against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, after her student status was terminated without due process. What does that have to do with travel? Well, she thinks that this happened due to a confrontation she had related to a Frontier Airlines flight she had booked.
Iranian student has confrontation at Frontier Airlines gate
On December 31, 2024, a student was scheduled to take a Frontier flight out of Boston (BOS). However, she was stopped by the gate agent, who reportedly demanded that she pay $100 to take her carry-on onboard the aircraft. Frontier is of course known for its strict carry-on allowance, and its punitive fees if you bring larger carry-on bags to the gate than what you paid for.
According to Shams’ version of events, when she questioned the charge for the bag, the gate agent closed the jet bridge door and ended the boarding process. In a moment of desperation, she tried to open the jet bridge door, and said she would pay the fee if she were allowed to board. However, she wasn’t let onboard.
The airline reported her to the TSA, who issued her a warning, but never cited or arrested her. A warning notice is the most basic type of infraction with the TSA, and it’s only supposed to become an issue if someone has repeated issues with the TSA.
Unfortunately this wasn’t the end of the this story. Before we discuss that, though, let me state that I suspect there was a little more back-and-forth before the jet bridge door was closed in front of her. Furthermore, as a PSA, trying to open the jet bridge door when you’re denied boarding *never* ends well.
How this incident may have caused further legal issues
We know that in recent weeks, the Trump administration has been trying to crack down on foreigners with student visas for unclear violations. Shams was among those.
On April 10, 2025, Shams received an email from her university, informing her that the DHS had removed her from the Student Visitor and Information System, which is how international students are tracked. No details were given about what caused this to happen, other than that she had been flagged in a criminal records check.
The only thing that Shams can think of is that this was due to her flight situation, since she didn’t have any other legal run-ins while in the country. As mentioned above, though, she wasn’t cited or arrested in that incident.
While her F-1 visa wasn’t directly revoked, the bad news is that she’s not allowed to attendant school without a record on the Student Visitor and Information System, so this could have eventually caused her to forcibly lose her F-1 status.
Shams is one of four international students who are plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit, claiming that the DHS breached their Fifth Amendment right to due process, without giving any sort of meaningful reason for why their status has been changed. They requested that a court issue an injunction.
However, a few days ago, the Trump administration backtracked on this crackdown, given the questionable legal grounds.
Bottom line
An Iranian PhD student recently found herself impacted by Trump’s student visa crackdown. The thing is, she claims to have never had any run-ins with the law in the United States, other than a confrontation with a Frontier Airlines gate agent, where the TSA was ultimately called. However, the TSA only issued a warning, and not a citation, so this shouldn’t have had any legal implications.
The student participated in a class action lawsuit about this. Ultimately Trump has backtracked on this crackdown, so the student isn’t at risk of deportation.
What do you make of this Frontier situation?
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