US academics, lawmakers protest 'horrific' new rule for foreign students

US Immigration department says foreign students pursuing degrees will have to leave country if their universities switch to online-only classes.

Prominent academics and lawmakers have reacted sharply to the new US guideline on foreign students pursuing degrees in the country if their universities switch to online-only classes, calling it as "horrifying" and "cruel."

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Monday announced that foreign students pursuing degrees in America will have to leave the country or risk deportation if their universities switch to online-only classes in this fall referring to the September to December semester.

The decision will adversely impact hundreds of thousands of Indian students in the US.

It said that for the fall 2020 semester students attending schools operating