Harvard, MIT Test New US Visa Rule for International Students

Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) took legal action Wednesday against the United States government. The schools are seeking to overturn the Trump administration's new rule on international student visas.

Under the rule, international students must take at least some of their college classes in person, transfer to U.S-based schools with in-person classes or leave the country. They will have to leave even if a health emergency forces their classes online later in the school year.

FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019, file photo, pedestrians walk through the gates of Harvard Yard at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology filed a federal lawsuit challenging the new international visa rule. 

The government will reject visa requests from international students at colleges or universities that only offer classes online.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal law enforcement agency, announced the rule on Monday. The same day, many colleges, including Harvard, said all their classes later this year would be online.

MIT joined Harvard to file the legal challenge Wednesday morning in Boston. They asked a federal court to bar ICE from enforcing the new rule. They called for the return of the March 13, 2020 "exemption," which permitted international students to attend classes online while retaining their visa during the health emergency.

新闻来源：Reuters