US universities sue Trump administration over eviction of foreign students
Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are suing the Trump administration over its decision to bar international students from staying in the US if they take classes entirely online.
The coronavirus outbreak has prompted some colleges and universities, including Harvard, to go online-only when classes resume later this year.
New guidance issued on Monday by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stated that those attending schools that are staying online must "depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction.”
New visas will not be issued to students at those schools, and others at universities offering a mix of online and in-person classes will be barred from taking all of their classes online.
The move stands to affect at least 5,000 international students at Harvard and thousands more at MIT. There are more than one million international students currently in the US, including around 13,000 from the UK, according to the Fullbright Commission.
It led to widespread confusion on Tuesday as students scrambled to clarify their statuses.
The lawsuit, filed in Boston's federal court, seeks to prevent federal immigration authorities from enforcing the rule. The universities contend that the directive failed to offer a reasonable basis justifying the policy and because the public was not given notice to comment on it.
They also claim it is politically motivated - an attempt by White House to pressure universities into reopening.
"The order came down without notice - its cruelty surpassed only by its recklessness. It appears that it was designed purposefully to place pressure on colleges and universities to open their on-campus classrooms for in-person instruction this fall, without regard to concerns for the health and safety of students, instructors, and others," said Larry Bacow, president of Harvard University.
