Marks welcomes Trump’s about-turn on student issue

Jamaica's ambassador to the United States, Audrey Marks, said she is pleased with the decision of the Trump administration to rescind a rule that would have required international students to transfer or leave the country if their schools held classes entirely online because of the pandemic.

Facing eight federal lawsuits and opposition from hundreds of universities, the Trump administration on Tuesday said it would pull the July 6 directive and "return to the status quo".

"We are aware that the over 4,000 Jamaican students currently in the USA were very concerned, so we are happy to communicate this assurance that you will be able to continue your studies, uninterrupted," Marks said.

The return to the status quo brings relief to thousands of foreign students who had been at risk of being deported from the country, along with hundreds of universities that were scrambling to reassess their plans for the fall in light of the policy.

Under the policy, international students in the US would have been forbidden from taking all their courses online this fall. New visas would not have been issued to students at schools planning to provide all classes online, which includes Harvard. Students already in the US would have faced deportation if they didn't transfer schools or leave the country voluntarily.