Several US prominent universities announced they would have to teach academic subjects through online lectures and classes if the COVID-19 epidemic is still active. The international students will have to go home, thus.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Monday that a failure to cope with the COVID-19 epidemic has to force the US universities to review their international aspect of work. In other words, the epidemic could result in deportation proceedings.
So far, the students holding visas for either academic or vocational courses that have moved fully online should either depart the country or transfer to a school with in-person teaching to “remain in lawful status”.
Taking into account that President rump is mot welcoming foreigners in the US, the tightening of visa restrictions for foreign national students looks pretty logical. In fact, Trump office suspended a range of different guest worker visas, affecting scientists, doctors, au pairs and some seasonal workers, among others.
The US universities to review the organizational issues
While COVID-19 is still hitting the US, the colleges and universities have been grappling with how to safely return students to campus amid worries that moving too quickly could spark a fresh wave of infections.
There were nearly 1.1m international students in the US in the 2018-19 academic year, the Institute of International Education said. That number is making up 5.5 per cent of the higher education population.
Sharvari Dalal-Dheini of the American Immigration Lawyers Association said US immigration authorities had made the change “without any notice”, and “thrown these students’ lives into chaos and uncertainty”.
“Not only does this impact the students, but it will also adversely impact universities and colleges that rely on these foreign students for innovation and financial stability,” said Ms Dalal-Dheini.
Meantime, other experts find Trump’s new immigration guidance for students “horrifying”, and that more clarity was needed.
