Daily Southtown

Trump team, ICE pull rule on foreign students

Thousands had been at risk of being deported

- By Collin Binkley

BOSTON — Facing eight federal lawsuits and opposition from hundreds of universiti­es, the Trump administra­tion Tuesday rescinded a rule that would have required internatio­nal students to transfer or leave the country if their schools held classes entirely online because of the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

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. With the policy rescinded, ICE will revert to a directive from March that suspended typical limits around online education for foreign students.

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 country 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 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.

The unexpected decision was welcome news to students across the country who had been on edge.

“I feel relief,” said Andrea Calderon, a 29-year-old biology graduate student from Ecuador. “It would have been a very big problem if I had to leave the country right now.”

The City College of New York student said returning home would have made it much harder to finish her thesis and pursue a doctorate. Internet access at home in Ecuador is spotty, and going through the process to come back to the U.S. in the future would be too expensive, she said.

The American Council on Education, which represents university presidents, praised ICE’s pullback of the rule. The group said the policy was misguided from the start and drew unpreceden­ted opposition from colleges.

“There has never been a case where so many institutio­ns sued the federal government,” said Terry Hartle, the group’s senior vice president. “In this case, the government didn’t even try to defend its policymaki­ng.”

Some opponents, however, were hesitant to call it a closed case. Massachuse­tts’ Democratic attorney general, who is leading a separate lawsuit against the policy, warned that the Trump administra­tion may attempt again to impose limits on internatio­nal students.

“This is why we sue. The rule was illegal and the Trump Administra­tion knew they didn’t have a chance,” Maura Healey said on Twitter. “They may try this again. We will be ready.”

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.

 ?? TONY LUONG/THE NEW YORK TIMES ?? The U.S. walked back a policy that would have stripped foreign students of visas if classes were entirely online. Above, a nearly empty Harvard Yard last week at Harvard University.
TONY LUONG/THE NEW YORK TIMES The U.S. walked back a policy that would have stripped foreign students of visas if classes were entirely online. Above, a nearly empty Harvard Yard last week at Harvard University.

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