A US federal judge announced yesterday that the Trump administration has revoked its policy that would prevent international students from taking online-only courses in educational institutions to stay in the United States. The move is a rare backflip for the administration which has built a reputation for draconian immigration policies.

The decision comes a week after the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency announced that students that had F-1 or M-1 visas and enrolled in schools providing online-only instruction for the Fall 2020 semester would have to leave the country, or transfer to another university that was offering in-person or hybrid (mix of online and in-person) instruction. The announcement threw many international students and their academic plans into a quandary, as they contemplated deferring their studies. Many also feared being forcibly deported from the US, due to the lack of international flights preventing them from leaving voluntarily. It also prompted a wave of lawsuits against ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from the country’s leading universities and a coalition of 17 states. Universities like Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where international students make up more than 20% of the student body, were the first to file such lawsuits.

According to a CNN source, the White House caved in to the strong opposition to this proposal outside the administration, and the man staff within the West Wing believed the policy to be poorly devised and implemented. The policy did not include instructions for international students if they wished to transfer to schools with in-person or hybrid instruction. China Daily reported on Harvard and MIT’s joint lawsuit, which argued that ICE and the DHS did not take into account the “reality” of the pandemic continuing. By enforcing this policy, the agencies would be putting the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff members across the country at risk.

According to the very same CNN article, the White House is now focused on having the new rule apply only to new and incoming international students, rather than those already based in the US. On this matter and any other ongoing international students’ visa policy decisions, the White House declined to comment. For now, however, the move to rescind the proposal will bring a sigh of relief to the more than 1 million international students based in the US. They will now not be forced to return to their home countries or transfer to another school, college, or university. The administration will now return to the policy that was in effect from March, which gave more flexibility by allowing international students to take online-only courses and simultaneously remain in the US.

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Images: Yushang Xu (via Unsplash)

On Monday, Jul 6, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) updated its policy regarding temporary exemptions for nonimmigrant students. As per the update, international students studying in the US holding an F-1 or M-1 nonimmigrant visa will be forced to leave the country if their school continues to conduct online courses only. Under the change, around 1.2 million students might face deportation.

Universities such as Harvard and Princeton have already announced that some students will have to take online courses due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with Harvard stating that all their undergraduate courses – excluding the Faculty of Arts and Science, which will allow 40% of their undergrads on campus – will be online for the entire school year. In fact, 8% of all US colleges have reported that they plan on online-only courses.

This has created quite a conundrum for many students, as traveling restrictions and periodic lockdowns in their home countries leave them without a safe haven to turn to. ICE has yet to expand on what will happen to such students, should they remain stranded. Many students have already voiced their concerns on social media, stating their fears around local COVID-19 management, the economic recession it is causing, and the health issues that immunocompromised students must face. Even the fate of Chinese students with a Chinese passport remains uncertain, as China currently only permits two round trips per week with U.S. airlines. 

According to former Beijing World Youth Academy student Yvonne W who will be attending Pratt Institute in New York this Fall, the COVID-19 pandemic has already had a huge impact on student prospects. “A lot of my friends are taking a gap year or deferring due to this. Overall, it’s just making students’ lives harder.” She may be forced to return to China if her university does not offer a hybrid model, yet tickets are hard to obtain and prices are high.

With many colleges moving to a hybrid online model, lecture halls the world over will stand empty when school resumes in the Fall

However, hope still remains for international students in the US. Students that attend schools that offer a hybrid model – that is with some classes on campus and some online, will be allowed to stay in the US. It is reported that at least 23% of colleges are planning on operating under such models including Stanford, Yale, Northwestern, Georgetown, and the University of Pennsylvania, although the specifics of how the system will operate remain unknown. However, that exception does not apply to those with an F-1 visa in English language training programs or an M-1 visa studying for a vocational degree. Schools have been given 10 days to update their plans and report to the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).

International students can also seek to transfer to a school that offers a hybrid model, but under such short notice and without clear instructions as to how to do so, their future remains unclear. 

It is important to note that the new policy has not been officially published in the Federal Register. Certain universities have started to take action, including the University of Washington, which will be working with the state’s congressional delegation and key federal officials to attempt to influence the final rule.

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Credit: Patricia Beatrix Villanueva (via Unsplash), Nathan Dumlao (via Unsplash)