Trump Administration Drops International Student Rule

BOSTON — The Trump administration on Tuesday dropped a rule that would have called for deporting international students if they were not enrolled in at least one in-person class at college this fall.

The rule had drawn the ire of colleges and universities across the country and left the fate of thousands of foreign students in flux. Many schools are considering only offering remote classes during the fall semester.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it was dropping the rule just as a hearing in a lawsuit brought by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was getting underway Tuesday afternoon. The schools were set to argue for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order that would have blocked the Department of Homeland Security and ICE from enforcing the policy.

Under the policy, international students in the United States would have been forbidden from taking all of their courses online this fall. New visas would not have been issued to students at Harvard and other schools planning to offer all classes online. Students already in the U.S. would have faced deportation if they didn't transfer schools or leave the country.

Schools would be forced to "choose between a reckless reopening ... or forsaking their [international] students," Harvard and MIT said in their complaint.

In a separate lawsuit challenging the rule, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and attorneys general from 17 other states called the rule "cruel, abrupt, and unlawful action to expel international students amidst the pandemic that has wrought death and disruption across the United States."

Federal officials suspended a policy in March barring students from taking more than one online class during a semester, as most colleges switched to remote learning amid the coronavirus pandemic. But last week they announced the new rule, prompting the legal challenges.

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).