Trump Administration reverses itself, will allow international students to stay
Photo | Grant Welker
UMass Medical School in Worcester
The federal government agreed to rescind controversial guidelines that would have barred international students from staying in the United States if they took online-only course loads in the fall.
Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement regulations released July 6 and during a hearing on Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Allison Burroughs said the two parties had reached an agreement prior to convening. The federal government will revert back to guidelines issued in early March allowing international students to remain in the country for online instruction during the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
University of Massachusetts President Marty Meehan called the rescinding of the guidelines "welcome news for more than 7,000 UMass students and nearly one million of their peers nationwide" and thanked Healey for her work to help bring state attorneys general together to fight ICE's plan.
"This decision now allows us to return to the important work of planning for a fall semester that offers all of our students the safe, high quality education they deserve," Meehan said.
Quinsigamond Community College President Luis Pedraja said the Worcester school's faculty, staff and students benefit from the opportunities to exchange ideas and cultural experiences, lauding the government's reversal for its planned ban.
“I’m proud of my fellow presidents at our sister institutions for banding together and partnering with the Attorney General to influence the administration," Pedraja said. "This will ensure that foreign students will not have to choose between their health and an education, so they too can have the opportunity to pursue their ‘American Dream.’”
After facing harsh pushback from higher education leaders across the country, the Trump administration reversed course allowing hundreds of thousands of international students to continue studies in the United States amid a worsening pandemic. Colleges and universities across the country filed briefs in support of Harvard and MIT's lawsuit against the guidelines.
The hearing Tuesday lasted only a few minutes with Judge Burroughs immediately announcing the agreement. Under the guidelines, international students who were only offered remote courses for the fall semester would have had to either leave the country or take "alternative steps" like transferring, taking a medical leave, or reducing course loads.
The State Department did not plan to issue visas to students enrolled in colleges or universities with only-online course loads. Those students would have been prohibited from entering the country and could have faced deportation if they remained in the U.S.
Attorney General Maura Healey filed lawsuit Monday arguing that the ICE guidelines violated a part of federal law governing how federal agencies promulgate and issue regulations. Healey's request for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction is rendered moot after Tuesday's announcement as the federal government provided the requested relief without a court ruling.
The state's top prosecutor, in a statement Tuesday, called the ICE rule "senseless and illegal the minute it came out, and the Trump administration knew it didn't have a chance."
Harvard and MIT's lawsuit argued that ICE failed to follow the Administrative Procedure Act which includes requirements for publishing notices of proposed and final rulemaking, issuance of policy statements, licenses, and permits.
On Monday, international students, advocates, and Healey gathered on the State House steps to announce their lawsuit and ripped into the ICE directive.
"It's the absolute right thing to do to reverse this policy and send a strong message to Donald Trump," Healey said. "He's harming our colleges and universities who rely here in Massachusetts on a diverse student body with contributions from international students that further the educational goals and the health and the well being of our learning institutions."
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments