Federal government rescinds new rule regarding international students
July 14, 2020 5:48 PM

To our students, faculty and staff:

We are pleased to inform you that the federal government on Tuesday rescinded the recent directive from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that placed new restrictions on visas for international students.

The rule had threatened to bar international students who attend universities that will offer only online instruction in response to the pandemic from being in the country. We believed the new rule to be unnecessary, disruptive and harmful to international students and to U.S. higher education in general and had worked to support several legal challenges. That included a lawsuit filed by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and another led by the Illinois Attorney General and 17 other states’ attorneys general, both supported with legal filings by the U of I System and its three universities.

We are gratified to deliver today’s good news, and vow continued support of our international students and their access to the world-class education and opportunities provided by our universities.

Tim Killeen
President

Barb Wilson
Executive Vice President/Vice President for Academic Affairs

Michael Amiridis
Chancellor, University of Illinois at Chicago

Robert J. Jones
Chancellor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Karen M. Whitney
Interim Chancellor, University of Illinois at Springfield