Harvard University and\u00a0the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) sued the Trump administration in a federal court on Wednesday in an effort to block the enforcement \u2026<\/b>
\nHarvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) sued the Trump administration in a federal court on Wednesday in an effort to block the enforcement of a new rule that prevents international students from staying in the United States if their school only offers online courses this upcoming fall.
The institutions are seeking a temporary restraining order to block the rule (pdf), which was announced by the U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on July 6. The rule requires international students to leave the country or transfer to another institution if their schools offer classes entirely online in fall 2020. If not, the students may risk consequences such as deportation.
The new rule quickly garnered widespread criticism by academic institutions who are already struggling to navigate the logistical challenges of safely resuming classes as some states across the country see an increase of cases of the CCP virus.
\u201cThe order came down without notice\u2014its cruelty surpassed only by its recklessness,\u201d Harvard President Larry Bacow said in a statement Wednesday. \u201cIt appears that it was designed purposefully to place pressure on colleges and universities to open their on-campus classrooms for in-person instruction this fall, without regard to concerns for the health and safety of students, instructors, and others.\u201d
\u201cThis comes at a time when the United States has been setting daily records for the number of new infections, with more than 300,000 new cases reported since July 1,\u201d he added.
Bacow said that if an academic institution decides to offer in-person or hybrid instruction this fall and a spike in CCP virus cases occurs, the schools would face \u201cstrong pressure\u201d to not switch to online instruction in order to protect international students studying in their schools.
Similarly, MIT President L. Rafael Reif said in a statement to students and faculty members that the rule \u201cdisrupts our international students\u2019 lives and jeopardizes their academic and research pursuits.\u201d
\u201cICE is unable to offer the most basic answers about how its policy will be interpreted or implemented. And the guidance comes after many US colleges and universities either released or are readying their final decisions for the fall\u2014decisions designed to advance their educational mission and protect the health and safety of their communities,\u201d Reif said in a statement.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times\u2019 request to comment on the lawsuit.
President Donald Trump has been pushing for schools to reopen in fall 2020, which is tied to his effort to help the country resume normal economic functions. During a roundtable discussion with health experts, educators, students, and parents on Tuesday, Trump said he will pressure governers to reopen, saying that he believes that the governers who didn\u2019t were doing it for political reasons.
\u201cWe don\u2019t want people to make political statements or do it for political reasons, they think it\u2019s gonna be good for them politically, so they keep the schools closed, no way,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWe\u2019re very much going to put pressure on the governors and everybody else to open the schools.\u201d
Trump, during the discussion, was highly critical of Harvard\u2019s decision to only partially reopen in the fall and have all course instruction for the 2020-2021 academic year be delivered online.
\u201cI see where Harvard announced that they\u2019re closing for the season or for the year. I think it\u2019s ridiculous. I think it\u2019s an easy way out. And I think they ought to be ashamed of themselves, you want to know the truth,\u201d the president said.
Under ICE\u2019s announcement, students who are attending schools that offer both a mixture of online and in-person classes are allowed to take more than one class online as long as the schools certify that the program is not entirely online, that the student is not taking the course entirely online that semester, and that the student is taking the minimum number of online classes required to make progress in their degree program.
A States Department spokesperson said that this temporary accommodation for students getting instruction under the hybrid model \u201cprovides greater flexibility for nonimmigrant students to continue their education in the United States, while also allowing for proper social distancing on open and operating campuses across America.\u201d<\/p>\n