New rules from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requiring international students to take in-person classes this fall have been rescinded by the Trump administration following lawsuits from several states and universities.
The “return to status quo” was announced at the start of a hearing Tuesday in a federal lawsuit brought by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the first to contest the policy, according to the Associated Press. The original announcement caused national turmoil in higher education.
Under the policy, international students on F-1 and M-1 visas would have been required to take classes in person this fall, despite rising COVID-19 cases which complicate efforts from colleges and universities to reopen campuses.
In an email to international students at the University of Idaho July 7, International Services Director Dana Brolley addressed the policy change.
“The headlines are shocking and dramatic, but they are not necessarily accurate,” the email read. “While the government’s plan is more restrictive than we anticipated, we hope no one will actually be ‘forced out.’”
The change reversed an earlier guidance from immigration officials March 13, which suspended limits around online education for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. This allowed international students studying in the U.S. to stay in the country once in-person classes became online classes instead of forcing students to return to their home countries.
The proposed reversal would have meant international students enrolled in schools operating fully online this fall would not have been issued visas and would be barred from entering the U.S. ICE would have directed those already present in the U.S. to transfer to institutions offering in-person learning or leave the country. If the students did not take one of these options, they may have faced deportation proceedings. Since these rules were rescinded, students will be able to remain in the U.S. regardless of how many online classes they take.
According to UI Vice Provost for Strategic Enrollment Dean Kahler, the rescinded requirement was not too different from requirements prior to COVID-19.
“The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) rolled back the temporary exemption, so students had to have at least have some face-to-face component in their curriculum for the fall semester,” Kahler said. “If they’re going to be coming to the U.S., then they need to be taking face-to-face classes. Otherwise, they should stay home and take classes online.”
While many universities have announced online-only fall terms, UI will provide HyFlex options instead. HyFlex is a mixture of online and in-person classes with the goal of offering students some level of campus engagement.
Under the rescinded ICE rules, international students attending schools adopting a HyFlex or hybrid model would have been allowed to take more than one class or three credit hours online, but they would not have been allowed to take entirely online courses, Kahler said.
In a Facebook Live event on the UI International Programs’ page, Brolley addressed affected students directly and vowed to continue monitoring the immigration landscape closely.
“I don’t want you to be scared. The community here at UI cares about your success and your ability to meet academic and career goals,” Brolley said. “There’s a lot of efforts being made to make sure your benefits of being in the U.S. are not impacted by the politics that may be driving some of the issues we are experiencing.”
Brolley encouraged those with questions or concerns regarding the ICE rules to email [email protected].
Angela Palermo can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @apalermooo