(New York) New legal battle for the Trump government, which is pressing for schools and universities to reopen in September despite the pandemic: Harvard universities and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) asked Wednesday to a federal court to block its decision to revoke visas for foreign students whose courses will remain virtual at the start of the school year.
Posted on July 8 2020 at 10 h 04 Updated at 13 h 08
Catherine TRIOMPHE
France Media Agency
The Federal Immigration and Customs Police (ICE) announced on Monday that foreign students would not be allowed to stay in the United States if their universities decided, because of a pandemic, to teach only online back to school – as Harvard recently announced. The decision had caused an outcry from organizations representing universities.
Wednesday, as the pandemic continued to progress in the United States – the most bereaved country with more 131 00 0 coronavirus deaths and 3 million infections detected – Harvard and MIT, two of the world's most famous universities, have testified a civil claim in the Boston Federal Court against the Department of Homeland Security and the Immigration and Customs Police (ICE).
She accuses the Trump government's decision to be “arbitrary and capricious” and to constitute “an attempt to force universities to resume formal education”, regardless of the health risks involved. They are asking the court to prevent it from coming into force.
Officials of the two universities, which together count some 9000 foreigners out of a total of some 35 00 0 students explain that the surprise decision announced by ICE “plunged, like all American higher education institutions, into chaos. “
It was taken “without taking into account the health of students, teachers, administrative staff and their environment” and leaves “hundreds of thousands of foreign students without the possibility of studying in the United States” , they write.
” Cruelty ”
“We will defend this case with determination to allow our foreign students – and foreign students from all universities in the country – to continue their studies without risking expulsion,” said Harvard President Lawrence. Bacow, in a tweet.
“The decision was made without warning – his cruelty only exceeds his recklessness,” he added.
To be able to stay legally, the Trump government is asking students to be transferred to establishments that will resume face-to-face teaching, “but a few weeks before the start of the school year, most students cannot,” stress again Harvard and MIT.
For weeks, Donald Trump, who has been eager to see the economy start to move closer to the presidential election in November, has advocated the reopening of educational establishments.
Again on Wednesday, the Republican President tweeted several times to this effect. He said he “disagreed with the very harsh and costly instructions” issued by the Centers for Disease Prevention (CDC) to reopen schools, saying that he would “meet” them.
He cited the example of several European countries which “opened schools without problems” and threatened the elected democrats, whom he accused of wanting to keep schools closed for political reasons, to cut their federal subsidies s 'They did not reopen them.
Many schools and universities have not yet made a final decision on how they will teach at the end of the summer. Many are preparing a hybrid system, with a few face-to-face courses and the rest of the teaching provided online, in order to be able to divide students into small groups and respect the rules of distance.
The mayor of New York said he was ready, Wednesday, to welcome again his 1.1 million students in public schools – closed since 16 March – for three days a week only.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has indicated, however, that he is refusing to endorse this plan for the time being, stressing that he will not take any decision on reopening the schools until early August.