Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration [ in the federal court in Boston] that has asked foreign students to leave United Students if their coursework is entirely online when classes resume in the fall. The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order against the policy in addition to seeking an order vacating the policy and a declaration that its policy is unlawful. Pursuant to this policy, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that “it was rescinding its COVID-19 exemption for international students, requiring all students on F-1 visas whose university curricula are entirely online to depart the country, and barring any such students currently outside the United States from entering or reentering the United States.
The Lawsuit alleges that the Administration has acknowledged that ICE’s decision is designed to force universities to conduct in-person classes notwithstanding universities’ and public health officials’ considered judgments that it is neither safe nor educationally advisable to do so. The lawsuit states that it would require housing students in densely packed residential halls, which is neither safe nor educationally advisable, and force schools to reopen without sufficient time to address "the additional risks to the health and safety of their communities. The Lawsuit further states that ...“The effect — and perhaps even the goal — is to create as much chaos for universities and international students as possible.”
This clearly reflects The Trump administration's move as a way to pressure colleges and universities to re-open their campuses with in-person classes during the pandemic despite the worsening crisis throughout the country. It won’t be long to wait and see how the court decides on lawsuit’s allegations of several violations of a federal law such as Administrative Procedure Act, that concerns how much decision making power resides with federal agencies and the question whether this administration’s policy is “arbitrary and capricious,” and thus illegal under the act.
Vijay Bhagwati, Esq.
Founder and Managing Partner
