Hunter
07/14/20
The City of Iowa City has joined in a lawsuit to protect international students from being deported if they take their college classes exclusively online
Federal policy from Immigration and Customs Enforcement released last week says that international students on F1 and M1 visas will be denied entry to the US if their universities go online this fall. Those already in the country will lose their immigration status if their classes are exclusively online; they would have to find another program with in-person instruction or face deportation.
Harvard University, who plans to be online this fall, and MIT filed the original brief against the Department of Homeland Security. Iowa City and over two dozen other local and municipal governments have filed to be attached to the suit.
A news release Monday from Iowa City says they took action “to support the many international students that call our community home and the right of the University of Iowa to make judgements about whether reopening in the fall is safe and educationally advisable.”