ICE Threatens to Deport or Bar International Students If Schools Move Classes Online Due to Pandemic

As President Trump pressures states to reopen schools in the fall despite an alarming surge in new coronavirus cases, ICE says international students studying at U.S. universities could face deportation if their schools switch to online-only courses.

The U.S. issues more than a million student visas a year, and international students account for as much as a third of the undergraduate student body at many colleges and universities and often constitute the majority of graduate students.

“I have yet to see a justification for this,” says immigration attorney Fiona McEntee, who notes that international students contribute about $41 billion to the U.S. economy per year.

Democracy Now! also speaks with Jian Ren, a Chinese international student pursuing a Ph.D. at Rutgers University.

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