Editor’s note: this story was originally published on July 13, and updated on July 14.
July 14 update:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement rescinded its rule that international students must leave the U.S. or risk deportation if they only enroll in remote classes during fall term. 

International students with F-1 visas — student visas —  can now register for all remote classes and stay in the U.S. without risking deportation. 

Dennis Galvan, Vice Provost for the Division of Global Engagement, expressed relief in a message to UO’s international students. “International students are vital to the University of Oregon’s success in research, teaching, and in building diverse and inclusive communities,” Galvan wrote.

The reversal came Tuesday, at the lawsuit hearing brought by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Multiple universities filed federal lawsuits against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which ICE is housed under, opposing the decision, including one filed by the University of Oregon on Monday.

Original story from July 13:

The University of Oregon, along with 19 other universities along or near the West Coast, has filed a suit against the United States Department of Homeland Security to block the federal government from revoking international students’ visas if all of their fall classes are online.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal law enforcement agency under DHS, outlined new rules July 6 requiring international students on F-1 visas — student visas — to return to their country of origin if they don’t take in-person classes when school resumes. 

The suit aims to place a temporary restraining order on ICE’s ruling and prevent the department from deporting international students.

UO stated in the lawsuit that they “refuse to tolerate ICE’s unwarranted and unlawful action that threatens to disrupt the education of hundreds of thousands of hardworking students and their academic environments and missions.”

This lawsuit is one of several similar suits filed against DHS in recent days, including a lawsuit from Harvard University that more than 180 colleges and universities have signed on in support of.

Related: “University of Oregon signs onto legal brief supporting lawsuit against ICE”

The suit states that students on F-1 visas may be deported to their home countries, where they may lack internet access or face new dangers to their safety.

“Once expelled, they may never be able to reapply for or reenter the F-1 program, thus permanently ending their post-secondary education,” the 38-page suit states. “Thousands of students are now subjected to these threats and living in fear of what might befall them.”

The suit alleges that international students make up a significant part of the population of the coalition universities’ student body.

International students comprise over one-tenth of UO’s student body, and the number of international students at UO has been declining for the last five years.

At other schools, international students comprise a larger part of the student body. At the University of Southern California, for example international students make up over 25% of its enrollment, according to the suit. Arizona State University, which is dealing with a statewide spike in COVID-19 cases, has around 14,500 students with F-1 visas that could be affected.

“These students are vital contributors to the success of the school – these students bring intellectual and cultural diversity, engage in cutting-edge research programs, participate in athletics programs, and help school fulfill their missions to educate world leaders,” the suit states.

“This new guidance is cruel, unfair and misguided,” UO President Michael Schill said to Around the O, “It targets one population for sudden exclusion if a university makes decisions for safety to move instruction online. It has no sound justification in health or educational policy.”

Dennis Galvan, the dean and vice provost of global engagement, said that if the order goes into effect, it “will have significant, immediate, and irreparable negative impacts” on UO and its students.

“The July Order puts the University to an impossible choice,” Galvan said — either lose students who bring immense benefits to the school or contradict the University’s judgement about how to protect the health of students, faculty and staff.

The coalition of universities includes Oregon State University, University of Southern California, University of Arizona, Stanford University and University of Utah, among others.