China News Agency, Boston, July 8: Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court on the 8th regarding the new international student visa policy recently issued by the US government.
The US government adjusted its visa policy for international students on the 6th of this month. International students in the United States who register for the fall semester are entirely online courses. If they do not transfer to a school or program with on-site courses, they must leave the United States. Harvard University and MIT filed indictments with the Massachusetts Federal Court on the 8th to apply for a temporary injunction to stop the implementation of the policy.
Lawrence Bacow, president of Harvard University, and L. Rafael Reif, president of MIT, each issued separate statements on the lawsuit that day. Barco said the policy was introduced without warning, cold and reckless. The statement stated that the policy appears to have been deliberately designed to put pressure on colleges and universities to reopen the campus to teach classes this fall, completely ignoring the major risks posed to students, faculty and staff by the new coronary pneumonia epidemic. Leif said that the government introduced this policy after most colleges and universities have determined the fall semester arrangements, and the executive departments cannot even give the most basic answers to questions about policy interpretation and implementation. This policy disrupts the life and scientific research of MIT international students.
Both principals said that although the policy has a major impact on international students, the school always welcomes international students and will firmly protect the rights and interests of international students by legal means. The Boston Herald said that the US Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it could not comment on pending litigation.
The Boston Herald reported that there are 70,000 international students in Massachusetts, and the government and the education community have opposed the policy. State Attorney General Maura Healey (Maura Healey) said the prosecutor intends to sue the policy.
The Wall Street Journal said that the total number of international students in colleges and universities in the United States was nearly 1.1 million in the 2018-19 school year. Since most international students pay tuition in full, they are an important source of income for many colleges and universities. About 12% of Harvard undergraduates are international students, and about 28% of graduate and other program students are international students; nearly 10% of MIT undergraduates are international students, and the proportion of postgraduate international students is as high as 41%. According to media reports, there are nearly 370,000 Chinese students studying in the United States in the 2018-19 school year, ranking first in the world. (Finish)