Trump goes back on immigration policy, revokes order barring foreign students from taking online-only classes

The Trump administration on Tuesday went back on his immigration policy and abandoned plans to deport international college students who did not attend certain classes in person amidst the pandemic.

It is to be noted that the United States announced last week that it will not allow foreign students, whose classes have moved online in the fall semester for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak, to remain in the country and might initiate removal proceedings in case the instructions are not adhered to.

"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," the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office said in a statement.

However, the US government cowed down amidst the legal challenge posed by the universities. Many universities brought on the legal gauntlet upon the government as the US colleges and universities are dependent on millions of foreign students who pay full tuition.

A series of lawsuits were filed by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology and another by a coalition of state governments. 

In a court hearing on the case brought by Harvard, US District Judge Allison Burroughs in Massachusetts said the US government had come to a settlement with two elite universities, and would thereby return to the previous status quo.

Most of the colleges and universities in the US have not yet made clear their plans going ahead in the fall semester amid the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. A number of schools, reports news agency AFP, are looking at a hybrid model of in-person and online instruction but some, including Harvard University, have said all classes will be conducted online.

There were more than one million international students in the United States for the 2018-19 academic year, according to the Institute of International Education (IIE).

That accounted for 5.5% of the total US higher education population, the IIE said, and international students contributed $44.7 billion to the US economy in 2018.

The largest number of international students came from China, followed by India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Canada.

Earlier, Trump had suspended temporary work visas, including H-1B, for foreigners till the end of the year. It marked the latest effort to bar the entry of immigrants to the country.