On Wednesday, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (“MIT”) sued to block new immigration restrictions that would prevent students in the United States on visas from taking classes at institutions that offer fully online courses. The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction against the policy decision by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that would require international students whose universities move to fully online instruction amid the COVID-19 pandemic to transfer or face deportation.
On Monday, ICE announced that students on non-immigrant F-1 and M-1 visas who attend universities that operate entirely online “may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States” and that the State Department will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools that are fully online for the fall semester.
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