International Students In The US May Face Deportation If Universities Switch To Online-Only Courses

Universities across the U.S. are transitioning to online-only courses in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. If this continues, chances are that the International students who are pursuing degrees in the nation’s universities will either have to leave the U.S. or risk deportation, as shared by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

This decision will not only affect thousands of foreign students attending universities or participating in training programs, but also non-academic or vocational studies students.

And the worrying fact is that this decision applies to all universities, regardless of the education model they follow.

Harvard has already announced that it will be providing all its course instruction online, even for students residing on campus.

"There's so much uncertainty. It's very frustrating," said Valeria Mendiola, 26, a graduate student at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. "If I have to go back to Mexico, I am able to go back, but many international students just can't."

ICE has also shared that the students who fall under certain visas "may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States."

"The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States,” ICE added.

Many are not in favor of the decision, like Brad Farnsworth, vice president of the American Council on Education, who believes that it will “create more confusion and more uncertainty."

"What we were hoping to see was more appreciation for all the different possible nuances that campuses will be exploring,” added Farnsworth.

"These are not some fly-by-night universities, these aren't scams, these are legit universities who would normally have in-person curricula but for coronavirus," said Theresa Cardinal Brown, director of immigration and cross-border policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

"The bigger issue is some of these countries have travel restrictions on and they can't go home, so what do they do then?" she added. "It's a conundrum for a lot of students."