A US government agency has announced that international students will have to leave the country if their universities switch to online-only courses or risk deportation, RTÉ news has reported.
Unless they transfer to another school with in-person instruction or leave the country, international students could face deportation proceedings, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said.
In a statement, ICE said: “The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programmes that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States.”
The move will not apply to international students taking classes in person or those attending universities adopting a hybrid teaching model.
The decision is expected to affect thousands of foreign students who go to the US to attend universities or participate in training programs. Foreign students – who often pay full tuition – are considered a crucial source of revenue for many US universities.
The Institute of International Education says that international students contribute $45 billion to the country’s economy.
The ICE guidance applies to holders of F-1 and M-1 visas, which are for academic and vocational students.
RTÉ News reported that, according to ICE’s data, the State Department issued 388,839 F-1 visas and 9,518 M-1 visas in the 2019 financial year.
Senator Elizabeth Warren criticised the decision in a tweet, saying: “Kicking international students out of the US during a global pandemic because their colleges are moving classes online for physical distancing hurts students. It’s senseless, cruel, and xenophobic.”
The largest proportion of international students in the US came from China in the 2018-2019 academic year, numbering around 370,000.
It is expected that 9 per cent of US universities will teach all classes online in the autumn, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
ICE’s move came on the same day that Harvard announced all classes would be delivered online in the new academic year, including for students living on campus.
According to a report by BBC News, Harvard University President Larry Bacow said that ICE’s decision “imposes a blunt, one-size-fits-all approach to a complex problem, giving international students, particularly those in online programmes, few options beyond leaving the country or transferring schools”.
