“The Trump Administration did not even attempt to explain the basis for this senseless rule, which forces schools to choose between keeping their international students enrolled and protecting the health and safety of their campuses,” Healey said in a written statement Monday. in the morning.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in the United States District Court in Massachusetts against the US Department of Homeland Security and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service, which oversees visas for students. Healey is expected to join a midday rally at the State House, held by the Harvard and Northeastern graduate student unions, to protest the new rule.
Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology also filed a similar separate lawsuit challenging the new rules, and a hearing in that case is scheduled for Tuesday in Boston federal court.
ICE officials announced their new plan last week. It would ban international students from living in the US if their schools choose to take all courses online this fall, due to the pandemic. In normal times, international students cannot take more than one online course, but the federal government waived that requirement this spring and summer due to the pandemic. The new rule is, for the most part, a return to normal policy, but includes an option for students to return to the US if your school conducts a hybrid program, with some courses taught in person and others online.
The Healey lawsuit and the other attorneys general argue that the new rule would harm not only students but also universities, which have spent months planning safe ways for students to resume their studies.
The lawsuit says the new rule does not take into account the health of students, faculty, and staff if international students are to attend courses in person, and does not take into account the fact that in some countries, learning Remote is not possible for students.
The lawsuit also says the rule would do significant financial harm to schools, as they could lose the millions of dollars that international students pay for tuition, housing, meals, and other fees. The lawsuit also argues that the new rule would harm the economy by preventing international students from moving to live in the United States.
The lawsuit also argues that colleges and universities are the same institutions that have the possibility of conquering the pandemic, so it is contradictory to reduce their ability to continue educating their students.
The lawsuit includes submissions from 40 Massachusetts schools, including Northeastern University, Boston University and the University of Massachusetts, each of which explains how the rule would harm its schools and students.
“If allowed to take effect, these rules will create costly, confusing and unnecessary obstacles for our international students and our campus communities, jeopardize millions of dollars in college income and deprive the Commonwealth economy of a valuable source of talent. and innovation, “University of Massachusetts President Martin Meehan said in a statement Monday.
Others have also denounced the new plan. In a letter sent last Thursday, US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey, US Representative Ayanna Pressley and other members of Congress urged ICE and Homeland Security chiefs to abandon the planned change.
The other states joining the Healey lawsuit are Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin. .
Laura Krantz can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @laurakrantz.
