MIT and Harvard Lawsuit Against ICE and DHS Results in Government Reversal

On July 6, 2020, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued guidance that would have prevented international students on F-1 visas from taking entirely online courses while studying in the United States.

This guidance came months after DHS and ICE had recognized that the global emergency created by COVID-19 warranted an exception to their usual rule that students in the country on F-1 visas must attend most classes in person, and months after universities, including MIT and Harvard, engaged in extensive planning of online curricula to minimize the spread of the disease.

Given the considerable disruption caused by this guidance, MIT and Harvard jointly filed suit against ICE and DHS in federal court in Massachusetts asking the court to prevent the government from enforcing the new guidance and to declare it unlawful.  Included in MIT and Harvard’s submissions to the court were declarations by Chancellor Cynthia Barnhart and Vice Chancellor Ian Waitz describing the extensive efforts MIT undertook to reach the decision to offer primarily online courses this fall and how disruptive it would be to change course in light of this new guidance.  In addition, numerous MIT students supported the lawsuit through submissions to the Court: several international students submitted declarations describing the significant disruption that the guidance would play in their lives, including the harm that they would face if required to return to their home countries; and the Graduate Student Council joined with student organizations from other institutions to submit an amicus, or friend of the court, brief in support of the lawsuit outlining the harms caused by the guidance.  In addition to the student amicus brief, diverse amicus briefs were filed by hundreds of entities in support of MIT and Harvard, including amicus briefs by higher education institutions, municipalities, industry associations and companies, nonprofit STEM societies, and labor unions.  Other institutions followed MIT and Harvard’s lead and filed similar lawsuits in their jurisdictions.

At a court appearance on July 14 – just over a week after MIT and Harvard filed suit – DHS and ICE agreed to rescind the July 6th guidance. 

A copy of President Reif’s communications to the community about the lawsuit can be found here and here. 

A copy of the complaint can be found here.

An MIT News article about the suit can be found here.