ICE agrees not to boot foreign college students who take classes online

Government lawyers agreed today to drop an ICE policy that would have forced foreign students to leave the country if they were unwilling or unable to find a school that would teach their classes in person.

The decision comes after Harvard and MIT sued the government last week to try to block the policy, which the schools argued would create chaos across the country for both students and colleges. Harvard and MIT had sought an immediate freeze to the policy, but according to the docket for their case in US District Court in Boston today:

The Court was informed by the parties that they have come to a resolution to the combined temporary restraining order/preliminary injunction motions. The Government has agreed to rescind the July 6, 2020 Policy Directive and the July 7, 2020 FAQ, and has also agreed to rescind their implementation. The Government will return to the March 9, 2020 and March 13, 2020 policy. This moots the temporary restraining order/preliminary injunction motions, ... and will preclude enforcement of the July 6, 2020 policy directive and July 7, 2020 FAQ, which are being rescinded on nationwide basis.