A proposal to deport international students attending college virtually has ended and students may stay. A number of Fla’s international sales are tied to college attendees.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – On Tuesday, the Trump administration rescinded rules that could have put thousands of foreign students in Florida at risk of deportation if their fall semester classes were held entirely online during the coronavirus pandemic. The deportation policy was announced a week ago after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said foreign students would not be allowed to remain in the country if their universities and colleges offered only online classes.

In Florida, however, a number of international real estate sales are tied to foreign students. The rule cancellation will allow those deals to move forward.

Shortly after Tuesday’s announcement, University of Florida International Center Dean Leonardo A. Villalón wrote to the school's international students to assure them that they would be able to continue their studies in the fall with the model that is “deemed best in the context of the current pandemic.”

“There will be no requirement for courses with a physical presence,” Villalón said in an email Tuesday evening.

When Florida universities shut down in March in response to the pandemic, federal immigration authorities relaxed student-visa requirements and allowed international students to continue studying online during the spring semester. Foreign students usually must take the majority of their classes in person to meet visa requirements.

State university officials were hoping the flexibility would be extended through the fall semester as most schools were planning to offer a mix of online and in-person classes in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But the Trump administration on July 6 said the U.S. Department of State would not issue visas to students who were enrolled in schools that planned to hold classes solely online during the fall. The federal mandate left Florida university officials scrambling for answers, as thousands of international students could have faced deportation if their fall schedules did not offer a certain amount of in-person classes.

Concerned about the implication of the federal mandate, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology filed a lawsuit to try to block the policy from taking effect. The decision to reverse the policy on Tuesday was announced at the start of a hearing in the federal lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said federal immigrations authorities agreed to pull the July 6 directive and “return to the status quo” that was in place during the spring, the Associated Press reported.

“We join universities around the country in welcoming this decision,” Villalón said in the email Tuesday.

Source: News Service of Florida

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