Washington: The United States announced Friday that it will not accept new foreign students seeking online-only study, after rescinding a hotly contested order to expel those already here and prepare for it due to the pandemic.
The policy change was announced in a statement from Immigration and Customs.
President Donald Trump has made a hard line on immigration the cornerstone of his message and suspended various types of visas for foreigners during the coronavirus crisis.
The original policy change to revoke the visas for foreign students whose classes will move online in the fall was brought to court by major universities, including Harvard and MIT, teacher unions, and at least 18 states.
And on July 14, the administration changed course and rescinded the decision.
Trump had seen that move as a move to put pressure on educational institutions that are taking a cautious approach to reopening amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump is eager for schools at all levels to reopen with face-to-face classes as a sign of a return to normalcy as he battles an uphill battle for re-election in November.
He is pushing for this despite the virus being out of control in some states, and the death toll in the US exceeds 144,000.
His administration largely leaves it to the states themselves to discover how to safely open schools.
There were over a million international students in the US for the 2018-19 academic year, according to the Institute of International Education.
Many schools rely heavily on the tuition paid by those students.
From NDTV News
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