Trump Administration rescinds rule threatening to deport international students

BOSTON – Attorney General Maura Healey today issued the following statement in response to today’s announcement that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has withdrawn a federal rule that threatened to bar hundreds of thousands of international students from studying in the United States.

“For the hundreds of thousands of international students across this country who enrich our institutions and strengthen our communities – we celebrate this victory with you. This ICE rule was senseless and illegal the minute it came out, and the Trump Administration knew it didn’t have a chance. This is why we take action in court, why we stand up for our values, and why we will remain vigilant in protecting our international students from these harmful disruptions.”

Today’s announcement comes one day after AG Healey led a coalition of 18 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over the rule that barred international students from living in the United States while taking all of their classes online during the pandemic.

According to the rule that was proposed, nonimmigrant students attending schools operating entirely online would not have been able to take a full online course load and remain in the United States. The U.S. Department of State would not have issued visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester.