Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration it was revealed on Wednesday (July 8).
Per NBC News, the lawsuit came about over guidelines that would see international students be stripped of their visas if their coursework was entirely online. The lawsuit claims that such actions would cause "chaos" for universities and their international students.
The decision was reportedly made as a result of the US still attempting to battle the ongoing effects of COVID-19 pandemic, and relieve some of the pressures faced by universities and colleges.
The lawsuit is specifically targeting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and is seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctive relief against the Trump Administration's policy - which was announced on Monday (July 6).
The lawsuit states:
"On July 6, 2020, ICE announced that it was rescinding its COVID-19 exemption for international students, requiring all students on F-1 visas whose university curricula are entirely online to depart the country, and barring any such students currently outside the United States from entering or reentering the United States.
"ICE's action leaves hundreds of thousands of international students with no educational options within the United States.
"Just weeks from the start of the fall semester, these students are largely unable to transfer to universities providing on-campus instruction, notwithstanding ICE’s suggestion that they might do so to avoid removal from the country. Moreover, for many students, returning to their home countries to participate in online instruction is impossible, impracticable, prohibitively expensive, and/or dangerous."
The lawsuit then suggests that the announcement is perhaps intent on creating as much chaos as possible for universities and international students.
It continues:
"By all appearances, ICE’s decision reflects an effort by the federal government to force universities to reopen in-person classes, which would require housing students in densely packed residential halls, notwithstanding the universities’ judgment that it is neither safe nor educationally advisable to do so, and to force such a reopening when neither the students nor the universities have sufficient time to react to or address the additional risks to the health and safety of their communities.
"The effect — and perhaps even the goal — is to create as much chaos for universities and international students as possible."
As of this writing, the DHS and ICE have yet to respond to the lawsuit.
