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Education United States The Courts

MIT and Harvard Sue DHS and ICE Over International Student Rule 182

Shag writes: Two days after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said international students must leave the US if their fall classes will be taught entirely online, MIT and Harvard are suing ICE and the Department of Homeland Security. "ICE is unable to offer the most basic answers about how its policy will be interpreted or implemented," said former international student L. Rafael Reif, President of MIT. Massachusetts' state Attorney General has announced that her office will also challenge the ruling in court. Of course, MIT also develops various technologies for DHS.
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MIT and Harvard Sue DHS and ICE Over International Student Rule

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  • by magzteel ( 5013587 ) on Wednesday July 08, 2020 @12:06PM (#60275690)

    Student visas are offered for people studying on campus in the US.
    If student visas now apply to remote learning then everyone enrolled in online learning could theoretically apply for a student visa.

    • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 08, 2020 @12:09PM (#60275710)

      Yep. The entire point of a student visa is to allow someone to be in the United States while they ATTEND class AT a US institution.

      If they're not ATTENDING a physical US institution, you can't get a student visa. Those are the rules. You can't come to US simply by attending any of the many online-only universities.

      This is no different.

      Don't like it? Change the law. ICE is, as they generally are, simply following the laws.

      (Or just hold classes as normal. If it's safe enough for people to hold "protests" it's safe enough to hold classes.)

      • Don't like it? Change the law. ICE is, as they generally are, simply following the laws.

        The executive branch can absolutely choose not to enforce the law selectively. That is one of the checks and balances that our government has. Do you really think our government is capable of responding fast enough to "change the law" in time?

      • OK can you stop the charade of pretending you're ok with Chinese/Indian students getting an education? We know you guys TRUE belief on the matter.

      • by avandesande ( 143899 ) on Wednesday July 08, 2020 @12:36PM (#60275822) Journal
        While I am one of the few conservative on /. I think this should be overridden by the president. The cost of travel, breaking leases and establishing residency twice in different countries is huge while not really upholding the spirit of the law.
        • While I am one of the few conservative on /. I think this should be overridden by the president. The cost of travel, breaking leases and establishing residency twice in different countries is huge while not really upholding the spirit of the law.

          I agree it sucks for the students caught in the mess. I think though if they don't make this clear the logical outcome is schools will game the system and admit many more international students while keeping the bulk of them in remote learning. It will become another visa scam.

          Hopefully the schools will come up with a plan to conduct classes for international students on site and the issue is moot.

          • Required in-person exams, say 3 times per term, scheduled over a 3 or 4 day period so you can do the social distancing thing.

            What I'm wondering about is the colleges/universities with "underclassmen must live in on-campus housing/dorms" policies that are also only teaching virtually/online....

        • While I am one of the few conservative on /.

          HAHAHAHAHAHA

          "few conservative[s] on /."

          Go on, pull the other one.

        • And it's disasterous for the universities who are going to lose enrollment from overseas, which is often a huge part of their income which helps greatly to offset the cost to local students. This then leads to a loss of prestige for the US education system, which is already taking deep hits from the cost (especially relative to other countries where top tier university education is very often cheap and subsidized). Does the president want to Make America Great Again, or Make America Gimped Always?

          • Are you sure people want to go to all those other universities? Seems like everyone is always so desperate to come to the USA to study, but why do all that if you have a quality university right in your home country?

            I imagine most of those universities just aren't all that great OR those countries don't have nearly enough universities for their population.

            Not like they would ever want to come to USA. I mean, we have guns, republicans, Trump and massive, systemic racism. Got to be crazy to come here, right?

      • Don't like it? Change the law. ICE is, as they generally are, simply following the laws

        Maybe. But the lawsuit doesn't say that they don't have the authority to change the rules. They do say that they didn't follow the rules for changing the rules. So, in essence, they are not following the law.

        (Or just hold classes as normal. If it's safe enough for people to hold "protests" it's safe enough to hold classes.)

        First, you are implying that the people having the protests are the ones holding the classes. That is not necessarily true. There probably is some overlap, but far from 100%.

        Second, the most significant difference with protests with respect to safety is that protests are held outdoors. The vast majority

      • Covid infection rates are exponential on the base reproduction rate. In other words, the number of new infections each month either grows exponentially or falls exponentially. Covid cases are still rising - it's getting worse. Things won't be "safe enough" until they have been falling for a while.

        That REALLY sucks, but "sucks" doesn't make it less true.

        > (Or just hold classes as normal. If it's safe enough for people to hold "protests" it's safe enough to hold classes.)

        Mass protest outdoors is not safe.

      • I think there should probably be some discussion within our government about not enforcing this particular bit of law for those that intended to attend real classes and were forced into online only by the covid situation. The problem with direct interpretation of this law in this moment is the ever fluctuating circumstances that most schools find themselves in right now.

        My state's schools announced an expected loss of local revenue (not direct payments to the schools, but local spending outside of school)

      • Yep. The entire point of a student visa is to allow someone to be in the United States while they ATTEND class AT a US institution.

        If they're not ATTENDING a physical US institution, you can't get a student visa. Those are the rules. You can't come to US simply by attending any of the many online-only universities.

        This is no different.

        Don't like it? Change the law. ICE is, as they generally are, simply following the laws.

        I'm certain this is far from the only case where COVID-19 restrictions mean the law as normally enforced would screw some people over.

        The big difference is the administration takes action to make sure those other groups don't get screwed over while it pretends it's hands are tied when it's foreigners getting screwed.

        (Or just hold classes as normal. If it's safe enough for people to hold "protests" it's safe enough to hold classes.)

        If you constantly feel the need to take unrelated pot-shots in comments then it's a sign your politics are clouding your judgment.

    • by habig ( 12787 ) on Wednesday July 08, 2020 @12:12PM (#60275726) Homepage

      Student visas are offered for people studying on campus in the US. If student visas now apply to remote learning then everyone enrolled in online learning could theoretically apply for a student visa.

      In fact, those are the normal rules, which make sense for the reasons you say.

      The current problem is that students who are already here whose schools are offering a bunch more online classes than normal so as to spread people apart in existing classrooms (or even pre-emptively going all online for Fall semester again) are screwed by ICE doubling-down on this otherwise reasonable rule. They're here already, halfway through their studies, and are now being told to leave. Given that most countries aren't even letting people in from the US (even our good buddies in the UK) because we're so bad at public health, it's unclear how those students are even supposed to follow the rules and GTFO.

      • Student visas are offered for people studying on campus in the US.
        If student visas now apply to remote learning then everyone enrolled in online learning could theoretically apply for a student visa.

        In fact, those are the normal rules, which make sense for the reasons you say.

        The current problem is that students who are already here whose schools are offering a bunch more online classes than normal so as to spread people apart in existing classrooms (or even pre-emptively going all online for Fall semester again) are screwed by ICE doubling-down on this otherwise reasonable rule. They're here already, halfway through their studies, and are now being told to leave. Given that most countries aren't even letting people in from the US (even our good buddies in the UK) because we're so bad at public health, it's unclear how those students are even supposed to follow the rules and GTFO.

        The administration said one motivation is to encourage schools to reopen. Do you really think Harvard should be entirely remote this fall, at full price?

        • The administration said one motivation is to encourage schools to reopen

          There's no question they're using Mafia-like tactics to try to force states and cities to treat the pandemic as if it was nothing important. It certainly bears no relationship to Harvard's pricing - their costs aren't going to decrease. If anything, they'll increase. Why would you lower your price when your costs go up? The facilities aren't being used but they still have to be maintained and on top of that you have a whole second infrastructure to support.

          • The administration said one motivation is to encourage schools to reopen

            There's no question they're using Mafia-like tactics to try to force states and cities to treat the pandemic as if it was nothing important. It certainly bears no relationship to Harvard's pricing - their costs aren't going to decrease. If anything, they'll increase. Why would you lower your price when your costs go up? The facilities aren't being used but they still have to be maintained and on top of that you have a whole second infrastructure to support.

            They could easily admit 10x more students for remote learning and cut tuition accordingly

            • by omnichad ( 1198475 ) on Wednesday July 08, 2020 @12:58PM (#60275926) Homepage

              Just because remote learning uses a computer does not mean it is automated or run by one. There's a huge amount of human interaction involved. And training for new staff. Not to mention that poaching students from other schools does nothing to solve the problem at the national level.

              • Just because remote learning uses a computer does not mean it is automated or run by one. There's a huge amount of human interaction involved. And training for new staff. Not to mention that poaching students from other schools does nothing to solve the problem at the national level.

                It's not a zero-sum game. Expanded virtual offerings at a much reduced price means you can attract a global audience of a huge age range.

                They aren't treading new ground, these remote learning problems have already been solved. There are exceptions of course, like if you need to be in a lab, or doing clinical work, in the gym, etc. But I'd say 80% of my university classes could easily have been remote. In fact, being able to pause and replay the lecture would have been very beneficial.

            • The administration said one motivation is to encourage schools to reopen

              There's no question they're using Mafia-like tactics to try to force states and cities to treat the pandemic as if it was nothing important. It certainly bears no relationship to Harvard's pricing - their costs aren't going to decrease. If anything, they'll increase. Why would you lower your price when your costs go up? The facilities aren't being used but they still have to be maintained and on top of that you have a whole second infrastructure to support.

              They could easily admit 10x more students for remote learning and cut tuition accordingly

              Only if the students received much less personal attention from the faculty and staff. Much of the point of going to an elite institution is the opportunity to interact with world-class minds.

          • The administration said one motivation is to encourage schools to reopen

            There's no question they're using Mafia-like tactics to try to force states and cities to treat the pandemic as if it was nothing important. It certainly bears no relationship to Harvard's pricing - their costs aren't going to decrease. If anything, they'll increase. Why would you lower your price when your costs go up? The facilities aren't being used but they still have to be maintained and on top of that you have a whole second infrastructure to support.

            Harvard already offered online courses so the infrastructure was already there. It's hard to justify the value proposition of paying to be at Harvard when all your classes are online and they previously offered many online classes for free:

            https://online-learning.harvar... [harvard.edu]

        • by AvitarX ( 172628 )
          Harvard should put their endowment in index funds and use the better returns and massively lower fees of such and completely eliminate tuition.

          They would actually end up with more money, and they aren't using price to manage resources (they use admissions requirements for that).
          • by habig ( 12787 )

            Harvard should put their endowment in index funds and use the better returns and massively lower fees of such and completely eliminate tuition.

            Princeton, in fact, did exactly this a few years ago, and there is considerable pressure on their competitors to follow their lead. A student choosing between the two schools now has the choice "Princeton, and no tuition, or Harvard, and a second mortgage? Hmmmm....."

        • Do you really think Harvard should be entirely remote this fall, at full price?

          The price is a negotiation between the students and the University. The student can accept it, choose to leave by themselves or attempt to negotiate (ok, unlikely to be successful but they might have some chance in these circumstances). This is especially true of foreign students who almost always pay full price.

        • by habig ( 12787 )

          The administration said one motivation is to encourage schools to reopen. Do you really think Harvard should be entirely remote this fall, at full price?

          All schools, from Harvard down to the CC down the street are wrestling with this question. Keep in mind that the administration has somehow decided that strong-arm tactics which stands to damage one of the few things the world still wants to buy from the US (a $45.3B export value in 2017/18, https://www.trade.gov/educatio... [trade.gov] ) is somehow a good idea. Harvard's got the resources to challenge this BS, more power to them.

          • damage one of the few things the world still wants to buy from the US (a $45.3B export value in 2017/18

            Total US exports are about 2.4 trillion per year, so your "one of the few things" is less than 2% of the total. Gonna guess that the other 98% is more than a few things.

        • by necro81 ( 917438 )

          The administration said one motivation is to encourage schools to reopen. Do you really think Harvard should be entirely remote this fall, at full price?

          As a public health matter, I think it would be an appropriate measure to be 100% remote this fall. It sucks, but colleges (undergrad, anyway) are just as much a petri dish as kindergartens: outbreaks are easy and frequent.

          At full price? That's a separate question, and not really the point behind this policy. Does anyone think that immigration polic

    • by fibonacci8 ( 260615 ) on Wednesday July 08, 2020 @12:14PM (#60275734)
      That doesn't follow. You can't apply to be put in quarantine just because someone else who was in a place during a virus outbreak was put in quarantine. If remote learning is the result of state government procedures to mitigate the coronavirus (spoilers: it is), ICE should have to provide justification for compromising those procedures, not the other way around.
    • by alvinrod ( 889928 ) on Wednesday July 08, 2020 @12:28PM (#60275786)
      That makes sense as an argument. I also think it makes sense to recognize this is an extraordinary circumstance that's intended to be temporary and unlikely to persist for more than a single semester.

      I feel for the students who are getting screwed over due to a political pissing contest between two world super powers.
    • What about graduate students who have duties beyond learning. TAs, class graders, research assistants, etc.
      • What about graduate students who have duties beyond learning. TAs, class graders, research assistants, etc.

        Good questions. How will they be doing their jobs in this remote learning environment?
        I'm guessing that except for lab work those people will be remote too

        • I think these are questions that are being asked and ICE has no answers.
          • I think these are questions that are being asked and ICE has no answers.

            Those aren't questions for ICE. If the school is fully remote they must have a plan for these people to do their jobs too, assuming the job needs doing

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • ICE does have discretion. Wait, I can't believe I said that with a straight face... I meant discretion in these matters, they can choose to enforce or not when unusual circumstances arise, otherwise we could have robots do the enforcing rather than mindless humans.

    • What if those students don't necessarily need to attend classes with other students, but would be better served having access to campus resources like libraries, labs, etc.?

      Harvard, MIT and other colleges did not design all their programs to be online. They are only doing this to prevent the pandemic from getting worse.

  • by Gravis Zero ( 934156 ) on Wednesday July 08, 2020 @12:27PM (#60275776)

    Even if you are attending the campus via video link, it's nuts to ship out international students. This creates a heavy burden on international students to attend in classes in a different time zone than they live in. The students in question are from overseas so it's not a one or two hour difference, it's like 5 or even 14 hours difference.

    Regardless of authority, this is a nonsensical decision.

  • Only conservatives are threatened by having more educated people in the world. Nobody with a functional brain disputes that the vast majority of conservatives actual wish is that Chinese students be blocked from ANY access to education online or offline.

    • Re:Education (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Volatile_Memory ( 140227 ) on Wednesday July 08, 2020 @01:13PM (#60275994)

      I am a conservative with a functional brain and I dispute your assertion: Neither I nor anyone I know has a desire to stop the Chinese from receiving an education. Quite the contrary: the CCP has its own schools and universities which its citizens can attend, and there are myriad options around the world (apart from the US) should they wish to study abroad. I do not, however, feel that they have any right to attend school here, particularly when it has been shown time and again that they engage excessively in espionage for their nation.

    • You think ICE is staffed by conservatives?
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by schwit1 ( 797399 )

      Why should the US educate people that will most likely work for a hostile competitor(CCP or Chinese company) after college?

      • Funny how you word that, the vast majority are paying for their tuition here at full price. Better question would be why USA would no longer want to participate in international higher education since we are the choice for 25% of students, and of course 11 percent of our students study abroad at some point in their college education.

      • Or, we could retain the brightest ones? In addition, the consumer (read that as quality of life) benefits by improved products and competition.

      • That's a bit of a sick reason to block someone's education btw. More educated people = good for everyone. That's like puncturing your competitor's tire in a car race .. except in this case everyone wins when theres improved human productivity .. but that shouldn't be the reason for making ethical/humane decisions.

  • If foreign students are required to attend a physical university to continue to stay in the country then the universities should be open for them and the USA citizens can stay home for another semester.

    I can't imagine the percentage of foreign students is so high that you couldn't run the campus for them while keeping some social distancing and face masks going on.

    Probably upset a lot of citizens but universities are businesses and we are very pro-business, so this shouldn't be to hard of a decision. It's o

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