The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is gearing up to implement a policy that forces international student visa holders to take all or most of their classes in-person at their respective colleges or get deported. This policy is already facing strong opposition from New Jersey, the District of Columbia and 17 other states.

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal released a statement accusing the ICE Directive of putting the lives of all students in jeopardy by leveraging international students and the the tuition fees they pay to force universities and colleges to begin in-person classes amid the pandemic. Grewal deemed the policy as illegal, immoral, irresponsible and reckless.

The legal complaint filed on July 13 in federal court in Massachusetts, the attorneys general, lead by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey argues that because of the coronavirus risks, a blanket approach to starting in-person classes, ignoring the ongoing pandemic, endangers the students, faculty and other staff, along with their family members and even the communities.

New Jersey is joining attorneys general from Wisconsin, Virginia, Vermont, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Oregon, New Mexico, Nevada, Minnesota, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maryland, Illinois, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Connecticut, and Colorado in the suit. The suit claims that the ICE directive was announced on July 6, without providing any sort of notice and public comment period.

The recently proposed ruling nullifies an exemption, which was issued on Mar. 13 by the ICE’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program, allowing international students with F-1 and M-1 visas to remain in the United States while taking all or most of their classes online as universities and colleges across the country were focusing on providing remote learning in the initial stage of the pandemic.

ICE, on the other hand, argues that the proposed policy is intended to maximize flexibility for students to continue their studies, while restricting the risk of contracting COVID-19, by restricting entry of the students who do not need in-person classes in the country.

This unexpected change from the federal government has put New Jersey’s higher education community in jeopardy, given that statewide colleges and universities are compiling their plans to return to the campus in the fall. according to POLITICO. Grewal’s office cited one estimate that show international students contribute over $823 million to New Jersey’s economy.

New Jersey’s interim secretary of higher education released a statement, pointing out that ICE’s new Directive does injustice to international students who are in pursuance of higher education amid a global pandemic. She accused the new Directive of pressurizing colleges and universities of making critical decisions about instructions for the 2020 semester.