International students whose universities move to online instruction this fall will not be forced to transfer or leave the United States after a reversal by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security.
Prior to the start of a hearing on Tuesday for a federal lawsuit by Harvard University and MIT against the Trump administration, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said ICE had agreed to rescind its July 6 directive.
That directive said that ICE would no longer allow temporary exemptions, implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that permitted international students to remain in the country while taking a fully online course load.
Students with F-1 and M-1 visas attending a school that only offered online programs would have been required to transfer to another school that is providing in-person classes or leave the country. Customs and Border Protection would have prohibited international students from entering the country to attend a fully online school. The policy stated that those who didn’t comply could be deported.
The reversal of that directive permits universities to return to the guidance issued by ICE in March allowing flexibility for international students to take a fully online course load if needed, should the school moves to remote instruction.
The decision comes as U.S. universities continue to grapple with the complexities and unknowns of planning classes amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
About 9% of U.S. colleges and universities have announced plans to be fully online in the fall, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, while others, like Penn State, plan to be back on campus with a mix of in-person and online classes. Even so, Penn State has acknowledged it is prepared to revert to remote classes entirely if public health concerns make it necessary.
Penn State was among 59 universities that filed an amicus brief in support of the Harvard-MIT lawsuit against the government.
“We are very pleased with this outcome, which we supported in an amicus brief submitted to the court yesterday,” university spokesperson Wyatt DuBois said. “We hope this news will come as a relief to our international community and we look forward to welcoming them back to our campuses this fall.”
The Harvard-MIT lawsuit was one of eight filed against the Trump administration over the directive, including one filed by 17 states and the District of Columbia.
Hundreds of universities and major university associations also spoke out against the directive, saying it could unfairly derail international students’ education and damage universities already struggling amid the pandemic. Penn State President Eric Barron said it was ‘harmful’ and ‘could have disastrous and unfair impact,’ on thousands of Penn State students.
Penn State had more than 9,000 international undergraduate and graduate students enrolled last year, with more than 1,300 international freshmen.
Onward State’s Matt DiSanto contributed to this report.
