International students asked to leave USA if their classes are online

As colleges debate how to safely reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) gave an ultimatum to international students whose universities move to an online-only format for the fall semester must transfer to another college with in-person classes or leave the United States.

Under this rule, universities like Harvard and Rutgers would not lose tuition fees acquired through the students who are forced to leave the United States as the students could still attend online classes from their home country with no change in the tuition fee plans. The universities remain firm on their decision to not discount or waive any fees for the fall 2020 semester. However, the system’s manifest strategy will still leave the students with a straightforward choice to transfer their university instead of staying at universities such as Harvard and Rutgers or departing the country.

Indian Embassy’s Student Hub responded by saying, “As this matter pertains to policies instituted by the US Government, we recommend you contact your DSO to ask if your University is regarded as being ‘online only’ for the Fall 2020 semester and what implications that will have for international students on your campus based on this rule. Since this rule is school-specific, we expect schools to issue guidance specific for their students in the coming days. For further questions, please call 41440INDIA.”

Another issue for many foreign students is that the countries where they come from might not have stable internet connections which is required to attend online classes. Moreover, the time difference between the countries might restrict or obstruct the efficiency of delivering the course content across all international students. The U.S. classes might be held in the middle of the night for some students. Hence, just going back to their home country won’t work for those students.

Coming to one of the major points, many countries have blocked travel from the United States right now because the entire country is a COVID hotspot. It’s unclear as to where students from such countries stand and what are they supposed to prepare themselves for when it comes to traveling under this rule. Many Indian international students have started requesting the Indian government to send more evacuation flights now.

ICE’s decision to send students out of the U.S. if their school goes online-only looks like a part of the recent attacks on legal residence or immigration in the name of COVID.