UC System Set To Sue Government Over Rule Barring International Students

(CBS13) — The University of California system is set to sue the federal government over new rules that bar international students from staying in the United States if they attend universities that offer online-only instruction as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The lawsuit comes days after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security directed Immigration and Customs Enforcement to bar international students from staying in the country. UC system will follow Harvard and MIT in filing a lawsuit over the rule.

According to 2019 enrollment data, 27,205 of UC's 226,125 undergraduate students are non-resident international while 13,995 of the University's 58,941 graduate students are non-resident international.

Current UC President Janet Napolitano called the order "mean-spirited, arbitrary and damaging to America."

In a press release, Napolitano said, "At a time when college students across America are struggling to deal with the challenges and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic while focusing on their studies, this capricious and illegal order from the federal government plunges them into deeper anxiety and uncertainty. It is illegal, unnecessary and callous."