Hundreds of thousands of foreign students taking online-only courses in the fall semester will be given F-1 student visas, thanks to the help…
Hundreds of thousands of foreign students taking online-only courses in the fall semester will be given F-1 student visas, thanks to the help of big tech CEOs and their lobbying on behalf of their own economic interests.
Two weeks ago, President Donald Trump’s administration dropped their policy that closed a loophole that had been allowing foreign students to remain in the United States on F-1 student visas despite their classes having moved entirely online due to the Chinese coronavirus crisis.
Now, foreign students who were previously able to get F-1 student visas for their in-person courses will be allowed to secure that visa for online-only courses.
The move was made after Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) filed suit against Trump to demand that online-only foreign students be given F-1 student visas. The U. S. Chamber of Commerce threatened a similar lawsuit and 15 House Republicans lobbied Trump to reopen the loophole.
A report by Yahoo Finance, though, states that it was big tech CEOs, who signed an amicus brief in support of the Harvard/MIT lawsuit, that helped pressure the administration to cave:
The F-1 student visa program — as well as the Optional Practical Training (OPT) visa program that delivers foreign graduates to businesses at discounted rates — is a cash cow for American colleges and universities.
