More and more schools are joining the fight against the Trump Administration over a new rule that may bar international students from studying in the U.S.
Now, 59 public and private colleges — including Johns Hopkins University, Stanford University, Duke University and Emory University, as well as every member of the Ivy League — have signed a court brief supporting the lawsuit brought by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security.
Last Monday, federal immigration authorities said international students who are enrolled in online only courses during the coronavirus crisis “must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction.”
More from Personal Finance:
UC to sue Trump administration over international student ban
Harvard, MIT sue Trump administration over student visa rule
New rules for international students could cost colleges billions
Some schools, including Harvard, have already said that fall classes would be taught online. With just weeks to go before the fall semester, “universities are scrambling to revisit decisions made after months of careful planning in reliance on the government’s prior guidance,” the brief said.
A judge is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday in the case brought by Harvard and MIT.
The Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, which includes another 180 colleges, also filed a court brief in opposition to the new guidelines.
The brief argues that higher education institutions and international students will experience “significant burdens” because of the policy and ”and our country is worse off for it,” according to Miriam Feldblum, executive director of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.
In all, more than a dozen briefs have been filed in support of Harvard and MIT.
“The administration’s decision is gratuitous, cruel and inimical to what this country is about,” Johns Hopkins President Ronald Daniels said in a statement.
Hopkins filed a separate suit in the Federal District Court for Washington, D.C. That hearing is set for Wednesday.
“The university was left with no option but to bring an emergency lawsuit in federal court to stop the administration from pushing ahead with an illegal and unconstitutional directive that, if permitted to stand, would fundamentally undermine the educational freedoms and humanitarian values that animate higher education in our country,” President Daniels said.
“The sheer number of schools who have either filed their own cases against the proposed guidance or filed an amicus brief in support of an existing case, which I believe has now reached over 200, illustrates just how important international students are to the U.S. higher education system,” said Abigail Boggs, assistant professor of sociology at Wesleyan University.
“Importantly, all of these legal cases echo statements from international student lead organizations that insist that these students are a vital part of campus life in ways that exceed their financial contributions,” she added.