Harvard and MIT try to stop Trump ban
Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) sued the Trump administration on Wednesday, seeking to block a new rule that would bar foreign students from remaining in the US if their universities move all courses online because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The two universities filed a lawsuit in federal court in Boston asking for an emergency temporary restraining order on the new directive issued by the government on Monday.
“We will pursue this case vigorously so that our international students — and international students at institutions across the country — can continue their studies without the threat of deportation,” Harvard president Lawrence Bacow wrote in a statement addressed to the Harvard community.
The lawsuit filed by Harvard and MIT, two elite US universities, is the first to challenge the order that could force tens of thousands of foreign students to leave the country if their schools switch fully to remote learning.
Harvard had announced it would hold all classes online in the upcoming term.
The US department of justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
US President Donald Trump is pushing schools across the country to reopen in the northern hemisphere autumn.
The Trump administration announcement blindsided academic institutions grappling with the logistical challenges of safely resuming classes as the coronavirus pandemic continues unabated.
There are more than a million foreign students at US colleges and universities. Many depend on revenue from foreign students, who often pay full tuition.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency rule said most students on F-1 and M-1 visas could stay if their programmes were in person or offered a mix of online and inperson instruction.
In the wake of the announcement, students, professors and universities were scrambling to figure out exactly who would be affected by the rule and to come up with ways to comply without students having to leave the country. On Twitter, professors across the country offered to teach outdoor in-person independent study courses for affected students.
The policy change marked an unexpected reversal of exceptions to the rules limiting online learning for foreign students when colleges and universities in March rushed to shut campuses and move to virtual classes.
The immigration agency “proceeded without any indication of having considered the health of students, faculty, university staff or communities”, the complaint said.
Judge Allison Burroughs, appointed by former president Barack Obama, is assigned to hear the case. In 2017, she ordered a halt to Trump’s travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries, a policy that was eventually upheld by the US Supreme Court.