Reversal of new student visa rule brings relief for African students

Facing a string of lawsuits, the Trump administration has rescinded its controversial rule barring international students from living in the United States while taking fully online programmes, bringing relief to thousands of African students studying there.

It was announced on 6 July by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that foreign students would no longer be allowed to continue staying in the US while taking fully online programmes without in-person or face-to-face instruction in the fall semester.

In order to avoid “immigration consequences” such as deportation, the ruling meant that foreign students would have had to transfer to universities offering in-person teaching or hybrid teaching (both in-person and online instruction).

The announcement came mere weeks away from the start of the new semester in September and caused panic and anguish among the thousands of African students studying or due to study in the US this fall.

“When I heard the news, I was definitely scared and really started wondering what could be next,” Olufemi Olurin, a Nigerian student at Eastern Kentucky University, told University World News via WhatsApp.

According to Open Doors annual data released in Washington DC at the US Institute of Peace in November 2019, Sub-Saharan Africa has over 40,290 students studying in more than 1,000 US higher learning institutions across 51 states. Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa had the highest number of African students studying in the US in 2019.

Ill-timed

Olurin said the announcement was ill-timed as students would not be able to adequately plan, apply and secure a place in a different institution in a matter of a few weeks.

“It appeared they were targeting students with this new legislature by not giving them time to plan appropriately ... pushing students into a corner in order to kick them out of the country because they also know it’s difficult to get an F-1 visa once your visa is no longer valid,” she said.

She said the decision to withhold visas from foreign students, most of whom are living in isolated circumstances owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, comes at a time when it is difficult for students to access support systems, such as student communities and foreign embassies, which are operating remotely.

Many students were already struggling psychologically and had limited access to financial aid, legal guidance and mental health support, she added.

Eunice Mushawatu, a computer science graduate from Zimbabwe currently at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, on an F-1 visa said students forced to leave would have to confront health repercussions including the risk of contracting the virus during travel and importing it to their home countries.

Flight availability, costs

The availability of flights going directly to African countries would have been another challenge since many airlines are yet to resume regular flight schedules, meaning that African governments would need to step in to arrange for the repatriation of students.

Zimbabwean students who spoke to University World News said they would not be able to afford the cost of tickets home as they were already struggling financially with accommodation costs since universities had closed down on-campus housing facilities.

A Zimbabwean engineering student at Ohio State University, who requested anonymity, said: “The year 2020 has been a particularly difficult year, especially because of the pandemic. My scholarship covers tuition only. That is a problem as I have to cover living expenses on my own.”

He said being forced back home would have adversely affected his studies and it would have been difficult to return and complete his degree.

The Zimbabwean Herald newspaper reported on 9 July that over 1,000 Zimbabwean students may be forced to return home if they failed to meet the ICE guidelines.

Universities such as Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton and Georgetown, which host thousands of international students and a large number of Africans, have announced they will switch to online learning in the fall, according to a report in Inside Higher Ed. However, there are some institutions, such as Miami University and Duke University, which are offering mixed classes with both in-person and online teaching.

Petition

An online petition campaign created by a student called Claude Baudoin aimed at revoking the new regulations defined the move by the US government as “onerous, unfair, impractical and unnecessary” and alleges the motivation was xenophobia.

The petition, which by Tuesday 14 July had attracted 20,576 signatures, argued the move by the US government was costly, dangerous and unfair for students with valid visas. It said some students come from hostile home environments where they might not have access to internet networks to conduct online studies.

According to UNESCO, nearly 89% of students in Sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to household computers and 82% lack access to the internet, which affects “educational continuity”.

There has been an ongoing debate around the “digital divide” in online learning in Africa with some institutions adopting tele-education and radio broadcasts as modes of teaching in addition to online classes.

Pushback from institutions

The restriction on foreign students was challenged by a number of universities. On 10 July over 180 institutions filed a motion for a temporary restraining order in support of blocking the restriction on foreign students in federal district court litigation, according to the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, which filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the institutions.

The alliance is a grouping of university presidents and chancellors dedicated to increasing public understanding of how immigration policies and practices impact students, campuses and communities.

In its brief, the alliance said its members represent a diverse array of small and large, public and private institutions, “each dedicated to bettering the lives of their students and communities, including during the current COVID-19 global pandemic. Though diverse in faith, academic mission, geography and size, these institutions are deeply concerned with and impacted by ICE’s July 6 directive.”

Another lawsuit, filed by 18 attorneys-general against the Department of Homeland Security, said the rule was a “cruel, abrupt and unlawful action to expel international students amidst the pandemic that has wrought death and disruption across the United States”.