MIT, Harvard sue US govt over visa restrictions

The lawsuit of the US' two preeminent educational institutions -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University -- seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctive relief to bar the US Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement from the enforcing federal guidelines.

Washington: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement over their recent visa restrictions for foreign students, The Harvard Crimson, an inhouse newspaper of the university said.

The two preeminent educational institutions filed a lawsuit in District Court in Boston on Wednesday morning against the two federal agencies.

The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctiverelief to bar the US Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement from the enforcing federal guidelines that will force international students to leave the US.

Harvard University president Lawrence Bacow said in an email to affiliates that the order came down without notice, its cruelty surpassed only by its recklessness. "We believe that the ICE order is bad public policy, and we believe that it is illegal."

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's recent controversial visa restrictions for foreign students.

"We will pursue this case vigorously so that our international students at institutions across the country can continue their studies without the threat of deportation, Bacow said, according to the Crimson report.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a press release issued on Monday that for the fall 2020 semester students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the US.

The Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will US Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States, the release said.

The Harvard lawsuit argues that the guidelines violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to consider important aspects of the problem in advance of its release, failing to provide a reasonable basis for the policy, and failing to adequately notify the public.

International students enrolled in academic programs at US universities and colleges study on an F-1 visa and those enrolled in technical programs at vocational or other recognised nonacademic institutions, other than a language training programme come to the US on an M-1 visa.

With inputs from agencies