Several Congressmen and top educational institutions decried the policy change that will require international students who are in the United States with an F-1 visa to take at least one in-person course or else face the prospect of being deported.
The Trump administration has yet again announced a new policy that will damage the economy, harm the US institutions, and do nothing to improve America's safety or security, said Congressman Bennie Thompson, chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, and Congresswoman Kathleen Rice, chairwoman of the Border Security, Facilitation, and Operations Subcommittee in a joint statement.
“There is no apparent legitimate reason for the administration's inflexibility toward international students attending colleges and universities that adopt ‘online-only' policies – the Administration seems to just want them to leave,” the two lawmakers said.
International students contribute billions of dollars to the US economy and barring them from our country will deprive Americans of badly needed income. “We cannot allow President Trump to continue destroying jobs and cause needless suffering just to satisfy his anti-immigrant base. We oppose this reckless policy and the lasting harm it will cause to universities and communities across the country,” they said.