The Trump administration announced Tuesday it has rescinded a controversial rule announced last week that would prevent international students from studying in the United States if they took all of their courses online this fall semester.
Attorneys representing the Trump administration said it is reversing course during a court hearing Tuesday afternoon in Massachusetts involving a lawsuit against the policy, according to news reports.
More than 20,000 students in Georgia are from other countries, according to some research.
Some colleges and universities, such as Harvard University, have announced plans to have all courses online this fall semester to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Federal officials issued guidance in a three-page memo last week that students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the country, to the dismay of many colleges and higher education organizations. The memo said the federal government will not issue visas to those students.
Homeland Security officials recommended students “take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status or potentially face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.”
Harvard and M.I.T., sued the administration over the rule. Emory University, Georgia’s largest private institution, joined about five dozen colleges and universities in filing an amicus brief supporting the lawsuit.
U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Atlanta, wrote a letter Friday to the department criticizing the changes, saying his office "received desperate and concerned calls from alarmed constituents and educational institutions throughout metro Atlanta."
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