ICE Instructs Foreign Students to Take In-Person Classes to Stay in the U.S.
Coronavirus pandemic
has adversely affected the education system. The stress of online lectures and
classes are already taking a toll on the minds of students who are complaining about
the challenges and obstacles they are facing while attending online lectures. The
sudden shift to the online system was not only hard for students but teachers
as well. Now, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has made this switch
even harder for foreign students.
On 6th
July 2020 ICE issued an update
related to the online courses permitted by the Student and Exchange Visitor
Program (SEVP). According to the update, The U.S. Department of State will not
issue visas to foreign students who are studying in schools/ or programs that
are offering fully online courses for the fall 2020 semester. The students who
are already enrolled in online courses need to leave the country or transfer to
a school/program having in-person learning. If the student fails to comply with
the instructions, they can face deportation. Furthermore, ICE will not be
issuing visas to students who are planning to enter the U.S. to take a course/program
that is entirely online.
As stated by
ICE, the students who have enrolled in schools that will offer a hybrid system,
that is a mixture of online and in-person classes will be allowed to attend
online courses but these schools need to certify to SEVP through “Certificate
of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status,” in which they will declare
that the “program is not entirely online, that the student is not taking an entirely online course load for the fall 2020 semester, and that the student is
taking the minimum number of online classes required to make normal progress in
their degree program”.
ICE has
asked the schools to make these changes and update the enrollment and student
information within 21 business days of the issuance of this update.
The students
that are enrolled in schools that are offering only online courses for the fall
2020 semester, can engage in online learning through their home country. “In this case, DSOs should annotate the student’s record to make it clear that the student is outside the US but taking full-time online courses as that is the only choice offered by the school.”
Click this
link to get information about the colleges that have disclosed the plans
for reopening in the fall.
These
restrictions will further aggravate the problems of students as some students,
especially the ones from less developed countries won’t be able to take full
advantage of remote learning due to a lack of technical facilities. This news is
another example of Trump’s failing government as he is depriving students of
their basic right of learning which is shameful and shows his shortsightedness.
