Zim students face return from USA
More than 1000 Zimbabwean students in the United States of America (USA) face return from the country.
Zimbabwean students at American universities may have to return home following an announcement by the country’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office earlier this week, that foreign students at universities that now teach online with no face-to-face lessons should leave the country if they cannot transfer to a university that offers on-campus teaching.
Many American universities have moved to online teaching as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a fact sheet compiled by Open Doors a US Government-funded platform that tracks foreign students in that country, Zimbabwe has around 1 343 students studying in the United States.
In the statement, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office (ICE) said student visa regulations for the fall semester, which is set to begin around September, have changed.
The US Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will the US Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States. Active students currently in the United States enrolled in such programs must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction, to remain in lawful status.
The move by ICE is being challenged legally in court by Havard, University of Minnesota, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and many other universities in the USA.
The move has drawn criticism for the Donald Trump administration with critics arguing that deportations on the laid basis are not justified.
Writing on her Twitter handle, Elizabeth Warren, a United States senator belonging to the Democratic Party described the move as being cruel.
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