2020-07-06: ICE: Foreign Students at Online Schools Must Go rak
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Many US schools and universities are considering their plans for
the fall and are debating between having courses only online,
only in-person, or adopting a hybrid model with a mixture of
both.
Today, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) modified
its regulations [0] to require students at schools adopting an
online-only model and students who are taking only online
courses in a hybrid model to leave the country.
As an foreign student in the US, I will comment no further, but
I will share some relevant sections [0]:
1. Nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students attending schools
operating entirely online may not take a full online course
load and remain in the United States. [...] Active students
currently in the United States enrolled in such programs
must depart the country or take other measures, such as
transferring to a school with in-person instruction to
remain in lawful status. If not, they may face immigration
consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation
of removal proceedings.
[...]
Nonimmigrant students within the United States are not
permitted to take a full course of study through online
classes. If students find themselves in this situation, they
must leave the country or take alternative steps to maintain
their nonimmigrant status such as a reduced course load or
appropriate medical leave.
Addendum, 2020-07-07: Mindful of the cum hoc ergo propter hoc
fallacy, the above ICE announcement comes the same day as the
following tweet from DJT:
SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!
--- @realDonaldTrump [1]
[0]
https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/sevp-modifies-temporary-exemptions-nonimmigrant-students-taking-online-courses-during
[1]
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1280209946085339136
