James takes swipe at Don on students

President Trump’s coldhearted order that foreign college students go home if they’re attending online-only classes faced a new legal challenge Monday from state Attorney General Letitia James, who argued the policy endangered public health and education.

The suit was filed in Manhattan Federal Court just as Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced a similar lawsuit backed by 18 states. More than 1 million international students in New York State could be affected by the new policy.

“International students should never be used as political fodder to force colleges to reopen their doors, but the president’s inability to remove politics from public health decisions endangers us all,” James said.

Immigration officials unveiled the rule change last week, which requires international students enrolled in online-only courses “depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction, to remain in lawful status” or face deportation. Colleges across the country are shifting to onlineonly courses due to coronavirus.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “directive is in line with the federal administration’s stated goal of quickly reopening schools, callously ignoring prevailing public health guidelines calling for sustained social distancing and tailored reopening plans of only the most essential activities,” James’ office wrote. “ICE’s rash and ill-informed decision to promote school reopenings not only endangers the public health, but also threatens the immigration status of the over 100,000 international students who study in New York each year.”

New York City universities are still in the process of determining whether to offer in-person courses this fall.

Columbia announced a “hybrid” approach that mixes online and in-person teaching. The 275,000-student CUNY system has said online instruction will be more common than in previous years. The New School is online-only for the coming semester.