Trump Administration Walks Back Rule on Foreign Students

July 14, 2020 by Dan McCue
Trump Administration Walks Back Rule on Foreign Students
Princeton University. (Photo by Dan McCue)

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has rescinded a rule that would have required international students to transfer or leave the country if their schools held classes entirely online because of the pandemic.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.”

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.

At least eight federal lawsuits had been filed against the administration since the policy was announced, and hundreds of colleges and universities across the country had vowed to oppose it.

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.

In their lawsuit, 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.”

A+
a-
  • Donald Trump
  • Education
  • foreign students
  • online classes
  • student visas
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Education

    October 9, 2023
    by Tom Ramstack
    Anti-Affirmative Action Group Sues Naval Academy Over Admissions Policy

    BALTIMORE — A group that opposes race-conscious college admissions sued the U.S. Naval Academy last week. The Virginia-based group, called... Read More

    BALTIMORE — A group that opposes race-conscious college admissions sued the U.S. Naval Academy last week. The Virginia-based group, called Students for Fair Admissions, says the Naval Academy discriminates by allowing race to be a factor in deciding who is admitted to the Navy’s top institution... Read More

    Pennsylvania's Democratic Governor Crosses Partisan School Choice Divide

    HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — In the partisan politics of education funding, the school choice movement has pressed states for decades to send... Read More

    HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — In the partisan politics of education funding, the school choice movement has pressed states for decades to send taxpayer money to private and religious schools and long had to concentrate its efforts on states where a Republican governor was an ally. That suddenly changed... Read More

    September 15, 2023
    by Dan McCue
    Calif. AG Blasts School District for Adopting Mandatory ‘Outing’ Measure

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Friday blasted a suburban school district near the state capital for... Read More

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Friday blasted a suburban school district near the state capital for adopting a mandatory gender identity disclosure policy he contends will threaten the safety and well-being of transgender and other nonconforming students. The Dry Creek Joint Elementary... Read More

    August 30, 2023
    by Natalie McCormick
    University of North Carolina Grapples With Professor’s On-Campus Murder

    CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Fear swept over the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Monday afternoon... Read More

    CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Fear swept over the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Monday afternoon as students, faculty and staff began checking buzzing cellphones and finding an alert stating, “Emergency: Armed, dangerous person on or near campus. Go inside now; avoid... Read More

    Books Banned in Other States Fuel Vermont Lieutenant Governor's Reading Tour

    WATERBURY, Vt. (AP) — On a recent Sunday afternoon, Vermont’s lieutenant governor was at a local library, reading a book... Read More

    WATERBURY, Vt. (AP) — On a recent Sunday afternoon, Vermont’s lieutenant governor was at a local library, reading a book about two male penguins to a crowd of nearly two dozen. This was not the first stop for Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman nor would it be... Read More

    Millions of Kids Missing Weeks of School as Attendance Tanks Across the US

    SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — When in-person school resumed after pandemic closures, Rousmery Negrón and her 11-year-old son both noticed a change:... Read More

    SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — When in-person school resumed after pandemic closures, Rousmery Negrón and her 11-year-old son both noticed a change: School seemed less welcoming. Parents were no longer allowed in the building without appointments, she said, and punishments were more severe. Everyone seemed less tolerant, more... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top