MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE — Even in a pandemic, UJ Bhowmik was elated to become a “double Gopher” this fall. The 20-year-old international student from India just finished her undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota and will start law school there in September.
She signed a new lease on an apartment near campus and has been waiting to hear whether her classes will be taught online or in person. But the excitement she felt for the start of a new chapter in her college career turned to fear this week when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced strict new rules that could force some foreign students to leave the country.
Under the ICE guidelines, visas will not be issued to international students enrolled in colleges that are only operating online this fall, forcing them to either leave the country or transfer to another school.
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At St. Cloud State University, which serves the most international students among schools in the Minnesota State system, administrators are already engaging students on their course of action. President Robbyn Wacker held a Zoom town hall with about 200 international students Wednesday night, during which she discussed what their course loads should look like under the new requirements and pledged to accommodate their needs.
Read more: New ICE rules put Minnesota’s international students in a bind
