Universities blast ICE rule that would make international students go home if classes go online

Xenophobic. Misguided. Cruel.

Washington’s colleges and universities didn’t pull any punches this week when they blasted a new federal directive that would require international students to return to their home countries if the schools have to go to all-online classes this fall.

On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Seattle joined with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, both Democrats, to urge federal agencies to withdraw the guidance, saying it threatened the status of more than 1 million international students this fall. The letter has been signed by nearly 100 lawmakers in the House and Senate.

On Friday, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said he would file a lawsuit in federal court in Seattle challenging the proposed rule, set to go into effect July 15. Harvard and MIT have filed a lawsuit to try to block the guidance, and one state university, Western Washington University, joined an amicus brief in support of that lawsuit.