Trump administration drops plan to deport foreign students taking online-only classes amid coronavirus pandemic
The US government has rescinded a directive that would have stripped visas from thousands of international students whose courses are offered online only, it was announced on Tuesday.
The move came after dozens of universities, tech firms and US states joined Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in trying to block the new policy.
"I have been informed by the parties that they have come to a resolution of the combined ... preliminary injunction motion," Judge Allison Burroughs of the Massachusetts District Court said in a hearing that lasted about two minutes.
Guidance for international students "will return to the status quo as established by the March 9, 2020, policy directive ... and will preclude the enforcement of the July 2020 policy directive and frequently asked questions on a nationwide basis," she said.
On July 6, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division announced its intention to rescind the right of international students to remain in the US while taking online-only courses " an allowance granted in March in response to the coronavirus pandemic " although the agency had not published the change ahead of Tuesday's hearing.
Schools offering a hybrid of online and in-person instruction would have had to issue certifications by August 4 for each international student remaining in the US for such a curriculum to guarantee they are taking the minimum number of in-person courses.
In legal briefs filed to Burroughs before the hearing, Harvard and MIT argued that ICE's move was "capricious" because its main intent was to force schools to reopen, and that it violated a law meant to protect businesses from arbitrary decisions that could adversely affect business operations.
The disruption the directive would have caused " not only for international students, but also for communities where they spend on housing and other expenses " prompted a deluge of amicus briefs and additional lawsuits assailing ICE for trying to force schools to open classrooms while coronavirus cases in the US continue to rise.
"In-person instruction offered only for the purposes of meeting this arbitrary directive risks sacrificing the health and safety of students, faculty and staff " and, indeed, our states more generally," Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in a complaint filed on behalf of her state, 17 other US states and the District of Columbia.
"Losing the presence " and in many cases the enrollment " of international students would result in the loss of invaluable perspectives and contributions by these students, hundreds of millions of dollars in foregone tuition as well as fees for housing and other services, and hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue for our states' economies," Healey said.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology had joined Harvard in suing the Trump administration for its decision to strip international college students of their visas if all of their courses are held online. Photo: Getty Images/AFP alt=The Massachusetts Institute of Technology had joined Harvard in suing the Trump administration for its decision to strip international college students of their visas if all of their courses are held online. Photo: Getty Images/AFP
President Donald Trump, along with US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, has been pushing for the reopening of schools at all levels as a way to counter the economic turmoil and unemployment caused when most states enacted social distancing rules to slow the spread of Covid-19.
Many of those states, including California and Florida, are now reversing their reopening plans " closing restaurants, cinemas and fitness clubs " as infection numbers rise.
The federal government's defence team, led by US Attorney Andrew Lelling, contended in their pre-hearing briefs that ICE had warned that the March allowance was subject to change and was not subject to the Administrative Procedure Act, which calls for public participation in the formulation of government agency rules.
Some 44 per cent of US universities and other post-secondary educational institutions are planning to be fully online, offering a hybrid model or have not yet decided how they will run the upcoming academic year, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Still, the government's decision to backtrack on ICE's directive may have come too late to avoid headaches for some students.
"Harvard, MIT and their students face irreparable injury if the directive is not enjoined," William Lee, one of the lawyers representing the schools, said in a brief filed a few hours before Tuesday's hearing. "Indeed, they face such injury right now: the government is enforcing the directive at airports and consulates across the world, turning students away because they attend universities that have made the considered decision to offer instruction online this fall."
US Attorney Andrew Lelling of the District of Massachusetts led the federal government's defence team. Photo: Reuters alt=US Attorney Andrew Lelling of the District of Massachusetts led the federal government's defence team. Photo: Reuters
An amicus " or "friend of the court" " brief filed on Monday by 59 universities on behalf of Harvard and MIT's complaint detailed some of these instances.
"On July 8, 2020, a DePaul University student returning from South Korea was prevented from entering the country at the San Francisco airport on the ground that he had not yet registered for classes " and thus could not establish that at least some of his coursework would be in-person," the court document said.
"Amici have received reports of other students who likewise have been told they will be unable to obtain visas until their schools comply with the July 6 directive," it added. "Accordingly, nationwide relief is needed now."
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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