Earlier today, the Trump Administration chose to rescind the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement rule barring international students from staying in the United States if they are enrolled by institutions forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to deliver all coursework online. ICE’s abrupt policy change would have resulted in many international students losing their visas and being forced to return to their countries of origin.

In response to today’s decision, Kyle Southern, Policy and Advocacy Director for Higher Education and Workforce at Young Invincibles, issued the following statement:

“We are relieved to hear the administration today recognized what a unified higher education community recognized as soon as ICE released its disastrous policy statement last week: Using students as political pawns is no way to address a pandemic. We expect the administration will continue to pursue a xenophobic policy agenda, but we hope today’s resolution brings some sense of stability to the one million international students now enrolled across the United States.”