Trump administration rescinds rule on foreign students

BOSTON
(AP) — Facing eight federal lawsuits and opposition from hundreds of
universities, the Trump administration on Tuesday rescinded a rule that
would have required international students to transfer or leave the
country if their schools held classes entirely online because of the
pandemic.

The decision was announced at the start of a hearing in a
federal lawsuit in Boston brought by Harvard University and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. U.S. District Judge Allison
Burroughs said federal immigration authorities agreed to pull the July 6
directive and “return to the status quo.”

A lawyer representing
the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement said only that the judge’s characterization was correct.

• News 8’s Julia Deng spoke to international students in Indianapolis when the rule was announced.

The
announcement brings relief to thousands of foreign students who had
been at risk of being deported from the country, along with hundreds of
universities that were scrambling to reassess their plans for the fall
in light of the policy.

Under the policy, international students
in the U.S. would have been forbidden from taking all their courses
online this fall. New visas would not have been issued to students at
schools planning to provide all classes online, which includes Harvard.
Students already in the U.S. would have faced deportation if they didn’t
transfer schools or leave the country voluntarily.

Immigration
officials issued the policy last week, reversing earlier guidance from
March 13 telling colleges that limits around online education would be
suspended during the pandemic. University leaders believed the rule was
part of President Donald Trump’s effort to pressure the nation’s schools
and colleges to reopen this fall even as new virus cases rise.

The
policy drew sharp backlash from higher education institutions, with
more than 200 signing court briefs supporting the challenge by Harvard
and MIT. Colleges said the policy would put students’ safety at risk and
hurt schools financially. Many schools rely on tuition from
international students, and some stood to lose millions of dollars in
revenue if the rule had taken hold.

Harvard and MIT were the first
to contest the policy, but at least seven other federal suits had been
filed by universities and states opposing the rule.

Harvard and
MIT argued that immigration officials violated procedural rules by
issuing the guidance without justification and without allowing the
public to respond. They also argued that the policy contradicted ICE’s
March 13 directive telling schools that existing limits on online
education would be suspended “for the duration of the emergency.”

The
suit noted that Trump’s national emergency declaration has not been
rescinded and that virus cases are spiking in some regions.

Immigration
officials, however, argued that they told colleges all along that any
guidance prompted by the pandemic was subject to change. They said the
rule was consistent with existing law barring international students
from taking classes entirely online. Federal officials said they were
providing leniency by allowing students to keep their visas even if they
study online from abroad.