US firms including Microsoft, Google, Facebook join lawsuit against new visa rule

Days after US President Donald Trump administration rolled out new visa law for international students, several American technology giants including Google, Facebook and Microsoft have joined the lawsuit filed against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) latest rule by the Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The new directive that bars foreign students from staying in the United States if they fail to attend at least one in-person course, has caused a stir among many firms. 

These companies are not only seeking a temporary restraining order but also a preliminary injunction citing disruption in their recruiting plans due to the ICE directive rolled out on July 6. According to the American firms along with US Chamber of Commerce and several other IT advocacy groups, the latest rule would hinder the already planned hiring of international students and thus dismantling the recruiting processes. Over a dozen US firms have relied on the placement process to identify as well as train te future employees including foreign students. 

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What is the ICE directive?

Basically, ICE announced modifications in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) to temporary exemptions for the nonimmigrant students taking classes online amid the coronavirus outbreak for the 2020 fall semester. These changes included the restriction of visas for international students under fully online courses and the US government even said that “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 government directive provided educational institutions with at least ten days to update information in the SEVP.

However, according to reports, the companies in the US have united to condemn the directive and even said the rule would prohibit a greater number of international students from participating in their Curricular Practical Training (CPT) and Optional Practical Training (OPT) programs. According to these firms, the US will "nonsensically be sending...these graduates away to work for our global competitors and compete against us...instead of capitalising on the investment in their education here in the US”.

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Inputs: Agency