ICE announced that newly enrolled international students can’t enter the US if classes are taking fully online classes. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency made this announcement early on July 24, 2020. This announcement comes a week after the agency rescinded its original guidelines on the matter. ICE stated that non-immigrant students will not be allowed entry into the US if they are only taking online classes. Specifically, if they had enrolled for study in a US university after March 9 were only to take online classes. This is almost exactly the same guidance that removed on 14 of July, with the exception of March 9 proviso.
Reason and Criticism
When ICE announced its new guidelines it immediately began receiving criticism. The critics used various accusations ranging from the trumpet administration exploiting the pandemic to ICE being full of xenophobes. Most of these accusations are groundless and have very little to no evidence to support them. Specifically, the Trump administration has never stood against legal immigration or visas to the United States. Additionally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement more ethnically diverse than many police departments or other law enforcement agencies. The ICE announced student visa criteria has several reasons for its existence. None of which have to do with preventing non-immigrant students from entering the United States. Nonimmigrant students can still enter the US as long as they take at least 50% of the classes in person.
The first reason ice announced its decision was likely due to a concern for a potential repeat of 9/11. All Americans remember that it was terrorists who crashed several commercial jets into iconic American buildings. However, most are completely unaware of how those tears instigate entry into the United States. They gained entry through student visas and sporadically or never attended classes until they disappear. After 9/11 it is likely that ICE maintains up-to-date record of all student visa holders but also checks on the. In other words, ICE checks to see if they are attending classes in person on campus. The second reason is a student who is taking courses completely online doesn’t need to be physically in the US. Additionally, there is the possibility of the student contracting the coronavirus or inadvertently spreading it.
