News / Society

Trump walks back plan to deport foreign students taking online classes

Wednesday, 15 July 2020 2:29 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 15 July 2020 2:53 PM ]

Harvard Law School graduate Jesse Burbank spends time on campus before attending the online graduation ceremony in his room in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 28.

US President Donald Trump's administration has rescinded its previous plan to deport the international students if their university courses go online this fall, following a legal challenge from top universities.

The decision was announced by US District Judge Allison D. Burroughs during a hearing on Tuesday after Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology won a legal battle over the issue.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement would revert to its earlier guidance and allow overseas students to remain in the US even if their courses were wholly virtual, the judge noted.

The move to restrict the F-1 visas attracted widespread criticism from colleges and universities across the US, which are already grappling with how to safely return students to campus during the covid-19 pandemic.

"The order [by Trump] came down without notice — it's 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,” according to Harvard University President Larry Bacow.

Trump says 'may cut off funding' if US schools do not open

US President Donald Trump has threatened to cut off funding to schools that do not open in the fall.

In the past weeks, Trump has repeatedly threatened to cut off funding to schools that do not open in the fall and criticized a federal health agency’s guidelines for reopening schools as “very tough & expensive.”

The Republican president, who is seeking re-election in November, also have accused the Democrats of wanting to keep schools shut for political reasons, despite a surge in coronavirus cases across the country.

Trump's campaign views reopening of classrooms and enabling parents to get back to work as a key to economic recovery and a boost to his re-election chances in the upcoming 2020 presidential vote.

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