For Immediate Release
Contact: Dan Gordon, 617-651-0841
July 14, 2020

In Reversal, Administration Allows International Students to Stay

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amid pressure from many quarters, the Trump administration has rescinded a policy that would have prevented international students from remaining in U.S. for online-only courses amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Each year, about 1 million international students from nearly every country in the world study in the United States. They contribute $41 billion to the economy each year and support more than 458,000 jobs.

“Today’s decision speaks to the pressure from Republicans and Democrats in Congress, universities, advocates and companies that immediately challenged this proposal,” said Ali Noorani, President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum.

“The administration’s flexibility in the spring was the right move. Its attempt to undo that policy was wrong and another attempt to harm people in this country legally. Now the administration should revisit its four dozen other COVID-19-based restrictions that continue.”

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