ICE's Changed Rules For International Students, Explained

On July 6, the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Program announced that international students had to enroll in in-person classes if they wanted to legally remain in the U.S. The policy announcement came shortly after multiple universities across the country announced they would transition to online learning as a precaution against COVID-19. According to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), students who violated the policy "may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings."

The policy was quick to receive backlash for its xenophobia and its potential to force students into a position in which they’d be more likely to be exposed to COVID-19. Critics of the policy also argued that it uses international students as pawns to force universities to hold in-person classes. This appeared to be a continuation of the Trump administration’s insistence on reopening America while ignoring the threat of COVID-19.

While Acting Deputy Department of Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli told CNN that the move was designed to “encourage” schools to reopen, universities claimed this policy was more akin to coercion. Lawrence Bacow, president of Harvard University, wrote an open letter in which he stated that “It appears that [the policy] 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.”

Multiple outlets, including NBC and Fortune, noted that international students regularly pay full tuition and losing that money would leave schools significantly weakened at a time during which they are already economically vulnerable. While schools would certainly be hit hard by the policy, the people most affected by the policy would be international students.

Some international students want to avoid the States for fear of contracting the virus. Brown University senior Anchita Dasgupta told The Washington Post that she preferreds to stay at home in Kolkata, India. “My family is concerned I might get the virus. But that can’t even be a concern right now," Dasgupta said. “I have to enroll in classes or I lose my visa status.”

Omar Tunc, a Georgetown University junior, returned to his home in Istanbul when his campus closed. After spending the rest of the semester attending class at odd hours and struggling with poor WiFi, he wants to return to the states for a better academic experience and maintain the job helping him pay for school. “We were just a bargaining chip for schools to reopen. They didn’t actually care about us,” Tunc told The Washington Post. “It’s dehumanizing us. We’re more than just tuition money. We bring diversity. We bring another perspective.”

The policy even prompted 200 schools and 17 states to back legal challenges against the ICE policy. It was also condemned by Congress; in an open letter to the Trump administration, spearheaded by Ayana Pressley and Elizabeth Warren, signees called the policy “irrational and xenophobic.”

“This new policy would effectively punish international students at colleges, universities, and other institutions that have decided to move their courses online in order to protect their communities from COVID-19,” read the letter.

Thankfully the backlash worked, and on July 14, the policy was rescinded. According to the judge presiding over the lawsuit, both parties agreed to revert to the ICE guidelines schools followed in March.

However, this doesn’t mean that international students are completely out of the woods. The Trump administration has been notorious for cracking down on immigration, including an attempt to suspend new work visas until the end of 2020. Pablo Ortiz, a vice president of Florida International University, told NPR that the school is “cautiously optimistic” that international students will be allowed to remain in the U.S., but will continue to make plans in case anything changes.

For international students, the decision to rescind the policy lets them breathe a sigh of relief, if momentarily. As Sumana Kaluvai noted, "It makes me feel so relieved, and I think it's just proof that universities have a lot more power than we realize, and I'm glad that they took such quick action."