A lawsuit filed by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson on Friday alleges the Trump administration’s proposed visa rule for international students is unlawful and endangers the state’s schools.
Issued on Monday, the rule gives colleges and universities until July 15 to decide whether they will hold classes in-person, remotely or implement a hybrid model with both in-person and remote classes.
The rule revokes student visas for all international students attending colleges and universities holding classes remotely.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, claims the rule is unlawful and harmful to Washington students, universities, and community colleges.
“The Trump Administration is undermining public safety decisions made at the local level and jeopardizing more than a billion dollars in tuition revenue and economic activity in order to pursue a political goal of keeping schools open in the fall,” Ferguson said in a statement. “President Trump and ICE need to let colleges and universities make their own decisions about the health, safety, and education of their students, not arbitrarily and illegally punish schools that want to provide classes remotely.”
The lawsuit claims the rule hurts revenue for Washington colleges and universities, and it also alleges that the rule threatens deportation for COVID-19 vaccine researchers who hold F-1 visas.
Ferguson claims Trump’s order also endangers the health of international students who would have to travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Washington ranks 11th in the nation for the number of international students, according to the Institute of International Education.
The 2018–2019 academic year saw 27,472 international students attend Washington colleges and universities. International students pay full tuition, which many Washington colleges and universities rely on for financial stability.
In 2015, international students paid an estimated $825 million to Washington’s economy and over $35 billion to the U.S. economy, according to the IIE report.
According to Ferguson, the rule further violates the Administrative Procedure Act’s “notice-and-comment” requirements given the rule’s quickly approaching deadline.
Ferguson announced he will file a Temporary Restraining Order early next week seeking to halt the rule’s implementation.
There have been over 38,500 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Washington with over 4,600 hospitalizations and over 1,400 deaths as reported by the Washington Department of Health.
Ferguson has filed 65 lawsuits total against the Trump administration to date, 35 of which are awaiting a judicial ruling and 29 have been won.
