[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] It has been confirmed that the government has expressed concerns regarding the U.S. government's decision to restrict visa issuance and entry for foreign students taking online courses.
On the 14th, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told reporters, "The Korean government is closely monitoring related developments in the United States," adding, "To minimize the impact on Korean international students, we have been communicating through U.S. regional consulates to provide consular assistance and convey domestic interest and concerns to the U.S. side."
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), under the Department of Homeland Security, announced on the 6th (local time) in a statement regarding revisions to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) regulations that from the fall semester, foreign students taking all classes online will not be allowed to stay in the U.S.
In response to this measure by the Donald Trump administration, over 200 universities have taken legal action, and 17 state governments have also begun litigation. Seventeen states including Massachusetts and Washington D.C. filed a lawsuit in the Boston Federal District Court to block the Trump administration's measure allowing the cancellation of visas for foreign students taking only online courses in the fall semester.
Prior to the 17 state governments, the state of California and Johns Hopkins University filed separate lawsuits last week, and Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) filed a motion for a preliminary injunction on the 8th at the Boston Federal Court to halt the enforcement of ICE's new regulations.
Meanwhile, on the 13th (local time), the Chicago Tribune and others reported that 59 U.S. universities, including DePaul University, submitted a brief requesting the government to block the visa restrictions on international students taking online courses, revealing cases of entry denial for Korean international students. In the brief submitted to the court on the 12th, these universities stated that the U.S. government unfairly prohibited the entry of Korean students by applying the new visa restriction regulations.
According to the brief, a Korean student who arrived at San Francisco Airport on the 8th was denied entry because they had not yet registered for courses at DePaul University. Regarding this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "We are currently verifying the specific facts."
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