Some international students say they have been chilled by the U.S. government’s attempt – now rescinded – to compel them to attend class in person this fall during the COVID-19 pandemic or risk losing their visa status.

“It was really scary,” said Yumiko Kishaba from Japan, who studies business administration at the City University of New York. “It's very confusing. It makes us like, I don't know, it's like uncomfortable being here in the U.S.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agencies retracted their July 6 ruling minutes before a federal judge was to decide on a lawsuit July 14 brought by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology to stop the directive.

SEE ALSO:

ICE Won’t Compel Foreign Students to Be on Campus

Two hundred other colleges and universities submitted amicus briefs, or legal papers supporting the suit. Tech giants Facebook, Apple and Twitter lent their support to the suit, saying it would limit their ability to hire employees. And 15 Republican legislators wrote to ICE Acting Director Matthew Albence asking him to reconsider.

SEE ALSO:

Over 200 US Universities Challenge ICE Guidelines on Foreign Students

“These students are law-abiding members of our community and are seeking to better themselves with a college education, and our communities are better for it,” wrote the members of Congress.

“They followed the rules, and the rules are being changed on them in the middle of the game,” they continued. “That’s unfair.”

Attorney David Carpenter represents a group of students who filed a similar claim to the universities’ suit against DHS and ICE. Carpenter said he is pleased about ICE’s rescission, but the students’ suit will remain on hold in case the government issues another ruling like the July 6 directive.

“They faced health risks having to return to their home countries to travel,” Carpenter said. “For many of them who are from China, it’s just not practical for them to access their school curriculum abroad, for a variety of reasons, including the time zone difference, and their loss of connections within the school community.”

“I think they ended up having to do the right thing,” said immigration attorney Mercy Changwesha in Durham, N.C., about the government walking back the ruling.

“When this decision came in that international students, who take classes online, are going to have to go home or have to face deportation, it made no sense. We’re in the middle of a pandemic …”

Undergraduate foreign students in the U.S. must carry 12 college credits a semester to remain in legal visa status, but the COVID-19 pandemic has shuttered campuses across the U.S. to avoid the spread of the virus.

For the many students who remained in the U.S., they risked being deported if they took online classes only – as many domestic and international students have been doing since this spring.

For the many students who returned to their home countries when the pandemic emerged in the U.S., they would lose their visa status if they didn’t show up for classes for the fall semester.

Changwesha said she does not expect new international students who would have arrived this fall for the first time to get to the U.S. Most embassies, where students have to be interviewed in person and have their papers processed, are closed.

“So maybe a student who has an admission, but does not have a visa in their hand, might not get the opportunity to go to an embassy to get a visa before school starts in the fall,” she said.

“We expect that embassies are opening up slowly, but for now, most embassies are closed, except for emergencies.”

Changwesha said she tells anxious students to follow the guidance from their colleges and universities. Sign up for classes, keep a full load of 12 credits for undergrads and nine credits for master’s students. Attend those classes.

“You do not have to go home,” she said. “Go with whatever your school is doing: If your school is doing fully online, if your school is doing hybrid classes, go with the flow and follow your guidelines from school.

“Make sure you still attend class … make sure you participate and all that, because you have to maintain your status.

“I’ve talked with a lot of (international) students in the past week. A lot of them wait in that space wondering, ‘Do I just go home?’” Changwesha said. “And I told them, don’t go home yet. It’s a moving situation. Let’s wait and see.”

VOA's Laura Sepulveda and Mike Hove contributed to this report.

In The Student Life, the student newspaper for the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of five liberal art colleges and two graduate schools in Claremont, California, student Rochelle Lu writes about readjusting to her Shanghai home after spending a semester in the United States.

Read the full story here.

Cedarville University in the U.S. state of Ohio says it’s got more than 140 international students representing 44 countries.

Here, the school interviews Jonathan Sutton, director of international student services. He talks about his job and the opportunities for international students on campus.

Read the full article here.

Morehouse College, a private, historically Black liberal arts college in the U.S. state of Georgia, offers a guide for international students interested in attending the school.

Among the tips to apply and thrive at Morehouse:

• Take advantage of the school’s orientation program
• Turn to the school’s Center for Academic Success for tutoring, support and more
• Immerse yourself in campus life via clubs and societies

Read the full article here.

The administration of President Donald Trump said on Monday it will review Columbia University's federal contracts and grants over allegations of antisemitism, which it says the educational institution has shown inaction in tackling.

Rights advocates note rising antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias since U.S. ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza began after Palestinian Hamas militants' deadly October 2023 attack.

The Justice Department said a month ago it formed a task force to fight antisemitism. The U.S. Departments of Health and Education and the General Services Administration jointly made the review announcement on Monday.

"The Federal Government's Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is considering Stop Work Orders for $51.4 million in contracts between Columbia University and the Federal Government," the joint statement said.

The agencies said no contracting actions had been taken yet.

"The task force will also conduct a comprehensive review of the more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia University."

The agencies did not respond to requests for comment on whether there were similar reviews over allegations of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias.

Columbia had no immediate comment. It previously said it made efforts to tackle antisemitism.

College protests

Trump has signed an executive order to combat antisemitism and pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests.

Columbia was at the center of college protests in which demonstrators demanded an end to U.S. support for Israel due to the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's assault on Gaza. There were allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia in protests and counter-protests.

During last summer's demonstrations around the country, classes were canceled, some university administrators resigned and student protesters were suspended and arrested.

While the intensity of protests has decreased in recent months, there were some demonstrations last week in New York after the expulsion of two students at Columbia University-affiliated Barnard College and after New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the removal of a Palestinian studies job listing at Hunter College.

A third student at Barnard College has since been expelled, this one related to the occupation of the Hamilton Hall building at Columbia last year.