On Monday, July 6, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) changed the conditions that allow those with student visas to remain in the country. International students enrolled in a college or university for fall semester will not be permitted to take a full online course load in the U.S. Under their F-1 and M-1 visas, one class in their schedule must be in-person or hybrid.
This announcement comes in the wake of decisions from schools such as Harvard and University of Southern California to operate fully online fall semester. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, 8 percent of the 1,100 schools they are tracking will do the same.
This change endangers the legal status of international students across the country. Previously, due to the onslaught of COVID-19, those with student visas had been given temporary exemptions for online spring and summer semesters. Now, if a school chooses to operate entirely online, its international student population must transfer elsewhere or risk deportation.
“The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester,” ICE’s statement read. “They may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.”
In Fall 2019, International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) recorded that DU had an international student population made up of 879 persons. On Wednesday, July 8, the Office of the Chancellor issued a response to ICE’s immigration modifications.
“The University of Denver fully opposes this change in student immigration requirements and intends to sign a formal complaint, along with many other higher education institutions, to government agencies responsible for rulemaking,” The statement, signed by Chancellor Jeremy Haefner, read. “Importantly, because DU is offering a variety of classroom modalities this fall—in-person, online, hybrid, and hyflex—I am optimistic every international student who wants to remain at DU and in the U.S. can do so without additional barriers.”
On July 15, DU classes will be updated on PioneerWeb with their changed schedule types. Based off this information, students can search for classes based on modality and make changes to their course load. For continuing students, these changes can be made before the 18th or after the 26th. This will allow first-year registration to take place the week of the 18th.
As a result of ICE’s announcement, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Online, students have created course-swap spreadsheets for those in need of an in-person class at their university.
The ISSS has released information on how to comply with these new requirements for both incoming and current F-1 students. In the next several days, a recorded town hall and FAQs about these changes will be found on the Office for Internalization‘s website.
