Colleges across the country are taking another look at their reopening plans after the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made an announcement that student visas could be terminated if the school switches to online-only courses. Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, the general rule was students were allowed to take one online course for up to three credits. During the pandemic ICE loosened the rules so international students could take more classes online and have their status remain legal. L.J. D’Arrigo spoke to the Albany Times Union about the latest developments.

“This, in my opinion, is more of the same of what we’ve been seeing under this administration,”  D’Arrigo said in reference to recent restrictions placed on certain work visas, including a freeze on work visas used by technology firms and multinational corporations. If a school makes the decision to switch to an all-online program, the student has a few choices: They have to go back to their native country within 10 days or find another school that happens to offer in-person instruction. D’Arrigo, who has been in conversation with universities across the country, said the rules put schools in a tough situation.

“All these schools are now burdened to go back to the drawing board after they formulated a reopening plan,”  D’Arrigo said.

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