The Trump administration on July 14, decided to scrap a policy that would have deprived foreign students of their visas after their courses moved exclusively online amid the pandemic. The policy, which was announced last week, garnered strong criticism, and a suit brought by the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Harvard University.
These litigations were followed by a suit brought by California's public colleges and an alliance of 17 states. A federal district judge in Boston Judge Allison Burroughs was slated to administer oral arguments in the Harvard-MIT case made the surprise announcement even before the court proceedings started on July 14.
Burroughs noted that the parties have informed him that they have reached a resolution, adding that they will return to the status quo. The latest move rescinds a move U.S. Immigration and the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) announced last week that foreign students who courses have moved online entirely would either be deported or would have to transfer schools and reinstate a previous plan to grant immunity to students visa holders, The Hill reported.
While the government was leaving no stone unturned in its attempt to gear up for the unprecedented crisis in Mar., ICE offered a remission to students visa holders, who are usually required to attend in-person classes to stay in the country. Last week, ICE took a reverse without any sort of warning, noting that student visa holders in the country would have to leave the U.S. if their schools are holding classes entirely online.
The Harvard-MIT suit urged a federal court in Boston to provide a temporary restraining order and put a permanent ban on the administration's new policy. The lawsuit alleged that ICE's decision forces universities to reopen in-person classes, leading to higher chances of spreading the coronavirus, while pushing for plans to hold classes online and upend foreign students’ lives.
Tech giants, including Google, Microsoft, Facebook have said that the country's future competitiveness relies on bringing in new and retaining existing talented students from around the world. The International Institute of Education claims there are more than 1 million international students in America, and 200,000 of them are from India, Siasat reported.
The universities said the administration violated a federal law called the APA (Administrative Procedure Act), which comprises how a certain decisionmaking power exists with federal agencies. The issue was whether ICE’s new policy was justified legally or it was discretionary and arbitrary, making it illegal under the APA act.