ICE will not allow foreign students to remain in the U.S. if their schools offer no live … [+]
International students enrolled at U.S. schools that offer online-only instruction this fall may be deported, according to a press release issued today by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE.
According to the release, international students in virtual programs “may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.” Students who transfer to a school with in-person classes will be able to remain in the country. Some students in schools that offer a hybrid model of online and in-person instruction will not face deportation.
The order applies to foreign students with F-1 visas, held by those at accredited colleges or M-1 visas, required for students who study in vocational programs. The awarding of these visas has always been restrictive. Students in online-only programs were not eligible. But when the coronavirus forced campuses to close in the spring, ICE allowed foreign students to continue with their studies virtually through the end of the academic year without the threat of deportation.
Now that colleges are announcing their fall plans, many schools are deciding that it’s too much of a health risk to hold live classes. Today Harvard said that it was inviting up to 40% of its undergraduates, including all of its first-year students, to live on campus, but that all classes would be virtual. Harvard did not respond immediately to a query about the number of its students on F-1 visas.
ICE is giving no explanation for its policy. Also it’s not clear how strictly the new rule will be enforced.
California State University, the nation’s largest four-year public university system with 500,000 students, announced in May that it would hold virtual classes this fall, with possible exceptions for some programs like nursing, that depend on live instruction. A foreign student working toward a nursing degree at Cal State may be safe should part of the program be face-to-face. But it’s likely that other foreign CSU students will face deportation.
According to a college reopening tracker published by the Chronicle of Higher Education, 8% of the 1,075 colleges on its list are planning to offer online-only classes.
