Excerpt from the Wright State Guardian
International students enrolled fully in online courses may not be able to stay in the U.S. according to new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) guidelines.
New guidelines
The new guidelines state that international students may not remain in the United States if they are taking their course load entirely online.
This directive affects non-immigrant students on the M1 or F1 visas attending schools that will be operating entirely online due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Active students currently in the United States enrolled in such programs must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status,” according to the guidelines.
This affects nearly 1 million international students in the United States and 597 students at Wright State, as of 2019.
WSU international students
The order that came down on Monday came with no consultation with higher education institutions, according to Wright State President Susan Edwards.
“It also comes at a time when the United States has been setting daily records for the number of new COVID-19 cases, with more than 300,000 new cases reported since July 1,” said Edwards in a letter to the community Thursday. “I can only assume that the order was designed to pressure institutions to resume “normal” face-to-face operations without regard to the concerns for the health and safety of students, instructors, and others.”
