Trump Administration Rescinds Rule After Colleges Cry Foul
A day after the University of Nebraska system opted to join a chorus of higher education institutions opposing a new Trump administration rule regarding international students, the administration announced in a federal courtroom that it would not move forward with its plans.
The government had announced it would require international students to leave the country or change schools if their institution shifted to an online format for courses this fall,
The NU system issued a statement Monday that it would join an amicus brief in a lawsuit filed last week by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology seeking to block the U.S. Immigrations & Customs Enforcement policy. More than 200 higher education institutions were supporting the challenge in federal court.
That opposition proved too much for the government, which reversed course Tuesday at the start of a hearing in a federal lawsuit in Boston.
In addition to Harvard and MIT, Massachusetts also filed a federal suit that was joined by Democratic attorneys general in 16 other states and the District of Columbia. Other suits have come from Johns Hopkins University and the California state government, and the University of California system said it would sue.
ICE had demanded that universities and colleges notify it by Wednesday if they plan to be fully online this fall. The University of Nebraska is planning on holding in person classes this fall, but the coronavirus continues to spread – so it’s possible those plans could change before students return to campus.
The Department of Homeland Security and ICE had said policy change would have been backed by existing law forbidding foreign students from taking all of their classes online. ICE suspended the rule in March in response to the pandemic, but it told universities it was subject to change.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said federal immigration authorities agreed Tuesday to pull the July 6 directive and “return to the status quo.” A lawyer representing the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said only that the judge’s characterization was correct.
The announcement brings relief to thousands of foreign students who had been at risk of being deported from the country, along with hundreds of universities that were scrambling to reassess their plans for the fall in light of the policy.
School leaders had said the rule would have forced them to “choose between opening their campuses regardless of the public health risks, or forcing their international students to leave the country.” They also argued that the policy contradicted ICE’s March 13 directive telling schools that existing limits on online education would be suspended “for the duration of the emergency.”
The rule already had been used to turn some students away. Last week, a DePaul University student was prevented from entering the country after arriving in San Francisco, according to the filing. Harvard previously said one of its students from Belarus was turned away at an airport in Minsk last week.
NU President Ted Carter said international students contribute to the university’s academic, cultural, social and economic fabric.
“We join colleagues across the country in hoping that these valued students will be provided as much flexibility as possible during a time of crisis,” Carter said in a written statement. “Here at the University of Nebraska, the chancellors and I will continue to do all we can to support our international students as they continue their educational journeys. We are fortunate to have them as part of our University family.”
More than 4,100 international students were enrolled at UNL, UNO, UNK and UNMC last fall.
Altogether, a report shared by university officials concluded that international students contributed more than $177 million to Nebraska’s economy in 2019.
A joint statement by four university student body presidents released July 9 said that each campus is reaching out to its international students.
“We want these students – our friends and classmates – to know that they are deeply valued members of the University family, who enrich our campus communities, add great value to the academic experience and contribute significantly to our local economies,” the student leaders said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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