After the freezing of green cards, the Trump administration is carrying out a new turn of the screw on immigration. Washington announced on Monday July 6 that foreign students would not be allowed to stay in the United States if their universities decided, for fear of the new coronavirus, to teach online only when school started.

The US government will not "give visas to students enrolled in fully online programs in the fall and border guards will not let them enter the country," said immigration and customs officials (ICE). ) in a press release.

As for students already present in the United States, "they must leave the country or take other measures, such as enrolling in a school with courses in person to maintain their legal status". Otherwise they may be "faced with an eviction procedure.

When the establishments opt for a "hybrid" model, they will have to certify that their foreign students are enrolled as much as possible in person, so that they keep their residence rights. These exceptions will not be authorized for English studies or professional training.

"Cruelty"

"The cruelty of the White House knows no bounds," immediately criticized Senator Bernie Sanders, former contender for the Democratic nomination for the presidential election on November 3. "Foreign students find themselves having to choose between risking their lives in classrooms or being expelled," he said.

The cruelty of this White House knows no bounds. Foreign students are being threatened with a choice: risk your life going to class in-person or get deported.

We must stand up to Trump's bigotry. We must keep all our students safe. https://t.co/Q2MvmgJPqV

- Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 6, 2020

"The worst is uncertainty," Gonzalo Fernández, a 32-year-old Spanish boy who is doing a doctorate in economics at George Washington University, told AFP. "We don't know if we will have lessons next semester, if we have to go home or if they are going to kick us out ..."

The measure concerns F1 (for academic studies) or M1 (for professional training) visas. About 1.2 million people had them in March, the vast majority of them Asian (Chinese, Indian, South Korean), according to official data.

"Inevitable remedies"

Like the rest of the country, American universities, which account for 5.5% of international students on average and depend heavily on their tuition fees, closed their doors in March and switched to online education in an attempt to stem the pandemic. 

In the absence of vaccines, some, including the State University of California or the prestigious Harvard University, have announced that they will continue with 100% online courses at the start of the school year, even for students authorized to live on campus.

According to Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the think tank American Immigration Council, the new rule is supposed to allow students to continue their studies from their country but this is not realistic, in particular because of travel difficulties or technological delay of some countries of origin. "Legal action is inevitable," he predicted on Twitter.

President Trump, campaigning for his re-election, is pushing for a resumption of the country although the pandemic is not under control, with already more than 130,000 dead and an outbreak of infections in the south and west of the country. "Schools must reopen," he said in capital letters on Monday.

SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL !!!

- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2020

With AFP

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