- The surprise decision to deny and revoke visas for international students at universities not offering in-person classes has drawn a lawsuit from Harvard and MIT and hundreds of professors stepping forward to offer independent study courses to students facing deportation.
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The sudden decision by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deny and revoke visas for international students unless their school offers in-person classes is the latest in a long line of regressive decisions made by the Trump Administration. The U.S. welcomes more than 1 million international students each year, many of whom go on to live and work in the country. Harvard and MIT, whose international alumni include visionary innovators powering the tech revolution, are now suing ICE to block the rule as hundreds of professors step forward to offer independent study courses to students facing deportation.
Unlike the transition to online-only classes this spring, when the coronavirus made campus life categorically unsafe, this policy is not a tough fact of the new normal. It is a cruel and unnecessary policy designed to force universities into a lose-lose situation: re-open despite the ongoing pandemic, or put their students at risk of being deported.
In Other News: Ellevest list, Al Gore, polite robots
The most senior Black Wall Street exec is optimistic that Black Lives Matter can change finance for the better. Al Gore sees the pandemic turning the tide in favor of stopping climate change. Retail impact investing platform Ellevest (which is trying to democratize its offerings) compiled a list of businesses run by Black women. U.S. investments in offshore wind power may eclipse a much dirtier offshore power source. These nice engineers want to assure you that their robots are polite and helpful.
Levity Break
As our 2020 bingo cards fill up, let’s entertain one of my favorite conspiracies: Were The Golden Girls actually a crime syndicate?
