Education
Seventeen states are suing Trump for new visa guidelines for students
Due to the policy of the Trump administration, seventeen States and Washington, DC have filed an action that would prevent international students who attend internet classes being left in America.
In order to remain in the country for the fall 2020 semester, the ICE Guidelines, announced on 6 July, stated that international students must either enroll in in person classes in their schools or includes, but is not limited to, immigration consequences, including initiation of the removal process.
The preceding policy allowed students to take online classes without risking their status as visas due to the unusual circumstances of the COVID 19 pandemic in the student and exchange visitor programme (SEVP). No indication that the Fall 2020 semester was not subject to the same policy was presented in advance of the July 6 announcement.
The court reads that the Directive was arbitrary and capricious because it could not provide any reason why the previous policy could be reversed .... It failed to take into account university and foreign students major dependence interests and the harm caused by this abrupt reversal.
The plains are said to be irreparable damage if the court does not abdicate the rule, and Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut , Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada , New Jersey, N.M., Oregon, Pennsylvania , Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin include these states.
In particular, the plaintiffs claim that the rule leaves colleges and universities high financial and administrative burdens. The complaint states that schools would have to reassess their plans for the next year and that they would lose significant revenue from International students, who generally pay out-of-state rates without financial assistance.
They argue that ICE's directive would interfere with re-opening guidelines already issued by state governments and that re-opening pressure would make it more difficult for those governments to maintain their local communities secure.
The lawsuit seeks an order for the directive to be vacated domestically. The Directive has brought confusion across the country to colleges and universities – as have our students and prospective students, says the action.
The following statements include statements made by more than 40 schools, including University of Massachusetts, Boston University, Yale, Connecticut University and Tufts University which are affected by the new rule.
A large number of universities, just less than one third of colleges, planned to offer some sort of hybrid model of online and personal education before ICE 's announcement. A smaller number of people had announced that they intended to offer complete instruction online, including Harvard, whose announcement was made shortly before the ICE directive. Harvard and MIT have already applied for a temporary restraint order at the US District Court in Boston.
In citing the sensitivity of pending litigation, ICE declined to comment on this story.
