Hundreds of Jamaican students who pursue tertiary studies in the United States could find themselves at risk of being deported if their universities switch to online-only courses, according to a statement from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) yesterday.
It was revealed that it may affect thousands of foreign students.
The US mainstream media have quoted ICE as saying that students who fall under certain visa categories “may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States”.
The report further added that the State Department will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programmes that are fully online for the fall semester nor will US Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States.
Universities across the US are beginning to transition to online courses as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Jamaican-American immigration attorney Dahlia Walker-Huntington told The Gleaner yesterday that the measures will impact some students’ studies.
“Some colleges and universities have not yet even figured out what they are doing for the fall as yet.
“Some will have to leave based on their schedules and others will not be granted visas to study,” said Huntington.
According to the immigration specialist, “if they don’t leave or enrol in another programme, the government can begin removal proceedings against them.
The Washington-based Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) announced modifications to temporary exemptions or non-immigrant students taking online classes owing to COVID-19 for the fall 2020 semester.
As a result of the pandemic, SEVP instituted a temporary exemption regarding online courses for the spring and summer semesters.
“The policy permitted non-immigrant students to take more online courses than normally permitted by federal regulation to maintain their non-immigrant status during the COVID-19 emergency,” the SEVP stated.
ICE suggested that students currently enrolled in the US consider other measures, like transferring to schools with in-person instruction.
There’s an exception for universities using a hybrid model, such as a mix of online and in-person classes.
Visa requirements for students have always been strict and coming to the US to take online-only courses has been prohibited.
“These are not some fly-by-night universities, these aren’t scams, these are legit universities who would normally have in-person curricula but for coronavirus,” said Theresa Cardinal Brown, director of immigration and cross-border policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington DC.
“The bigger issue is some of these countries have travel restrictions on and they can’t go home, so what do they do then?” she added. “It’s a conundrum for a lot of students.”
I honestly doubt this will go through. They make too much money on international students to cut them off.
This won’t hold up in NYC where majority of the students are foreigners.
This issue may come up when a person tries to adjust their status. It probably will not affect them immediately
but what if it is a 4 year program and the person is only in 2nd or 3rd year. u know this is sad but if them nuh be careful they could get into trouble when they try to visit or renew their visa, that sounds like a mess, mark u if they live on dorms which a lot do they are going to be a burden on the system, but rather than push them off, why not let them go live else where if the university wants to get everyone off the premises.
Plenty live on dorms, and the wealthy ones from ja mek Dem kids live on dorms.
I am not rich at all. My child attended a U.S university and she HAD to live on campus as per her student visa plus she was not allowed to work off-campus until her third year. These people don’t care about the students, they only care about the money. It cost so much for overseas students especially the ones who have to live on campus and for them to take all that money from these students and then turn around and deport them for something that is not their fault is wicked!
My daughter could not finish her degree because of financial reasons and they canceled her visa within weeks 2 and a half years in her studies. She went back to Jamaica and plans to complete her education at UWI. It tough but it’s not the end of the world and I’m glad she left sooner than later. My daughter left the US with little money but she made sure she found an on-line job before she left and she now lives and works in Jamaica for a US company. Maybe the cost of a US degree will be less for overseas students after this, there will definitely be more competition from overseas universities the world over to attract these students and the cost of accomodation will no longer be an hindrance. Good luck to these students
:ngakak “Dat Mi Seh” your boss seems very confused as of late! it’s seems like he’s not getting much sleep because of “sleepy joe” :ngakak one last effort to show his base he’s still hanging by the thread is he?
Mussi fret him a fret chu dem ketch Ghislaine and it knock him head him a try distraction techniques. I hope she sing like a bird and leggo di hole lot a dem. I hope she not even hold back a toenail pon dem Distraction techniques bout international students will lose visa..kiss teet
Ms Met! don’t you see he’s using his minion barr to shake up SDNY? indended to appoint his protégé! didn’t you see immediately after it backfired they arrested Ms. Ghislaine! we’ll see what come of this one :travel
YUP GO HOME TO HOLLINESS – KICK THEM OUT –
MET YA PUSSI STINK AND YA BELLY FAT AND FULL STRETCH MARKS FAT BITXH I NOTICE YOU DON’T POST MY STUFF , YOU LOW SELF ESTEEM PIECE SHIT – YOU GET A KICK BY PUTTING DOWN AND SLANDER PEOPLE – GUD SI HOW U NASTY LOOKING – AN YUH MAN NUH WAAAH YUH GUH CHECK HIM PHONE – HIM TOUCH TUH CAUSE HIM DOUGIE # HIUM PHONE MET YA SHITUP TUH