Trump U-turn on visa ban for students taking online-only classes

Washington: The Trump administration has agreed to rescind its July 6 rule, which temporarily barred international students from staying in the United States unless they attended at least one in-person course, a federal district court judge said on Tuesday.

The U-turn by the Trump administration comes following a nationwide outrage against its earlier order and a series of lawsuits filed by universities led by Harvard  and MIT, seeking a permanent injunctive relief to bar the Department of Homeland Security and ICE from enforcing the federal guidelines. Even top tech companies such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft had joined the suit filed in the US District Court in Massachusetts.

“I have been informed by the parties that they have come to a resolution. They will return to the status quo,” Judge Allison Burroughs, the federal district judge in Boston, said in a surprise statement at the top of the hearing on the lawsuit.

The announcement comes as a big relief to international students, including those from India. In the 2018-2019 academic year, there were over one million international students in the US. According to a recent report of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), 1,94,556 Indian students were enrolled in various academic institutions in the US in January.

Judge Burroughs said the policy would apply nationwide.

“Both the policy directive and the frequently asked questions would not be enforced anyplace,” she said, referring to the agreement between the US government and MIT and Harvard.

Congressman Brad Schneider said this is a great win for international students, colleges and common sense.

Last week, more than 136 Congressmen and 30 senators wrote to the Trump administration to rescind its order on international students.

“Taking online classes shouldn’t force international students out of our country,” a said in a tweet.

In its July 6 notice, the ICE had said all student visa holders, whose university curricula were only offered online, “must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status”.

“If not, they may face immigration consequences, including but not limited to the initiation of removal proceedings,” it had said.

Image courtesy of thesatimes |

Share this post