VOA常速英语: 国际学生进退两难

International students who stayed in the US as their classes moved online amid the covid-19 pandemic may be forced to leave, following guidelines the US immigration and customs enforcement says it issued due to the pandemic. You know I don't want to put my family at risk, I don't want to put myself at risk to travel during a pandemic and going back to Pakistan, and even if I could defer the program for a year there's no guarantee that I will get the visa again. Many students say they need to be in the US for more than attending class. As a Phd student, the library is an extremely important resource for us, and as it is because of covid those services have been disrupted.

The decision comes after universities moved to remote learning in March to protect students from the pandemic. International students had to decide to stay or return to their families. You know more than 90 percent of the international students who were studying in the US, when covid-19 hit and college campuses were closed have chosen to remain in the United States, and this creates such disruption in their lives and such uncertainty that it is unconscionable. Students outside the United States say the new ruling has disrupted their plans to return. I know for a fact that international students when it comes to rules guidelines laws and stuff like that they are sort of like treated as low-level citizens, if I can't even use the word citizen to begin with because that's what they make clear we are not. The Trump Administration said this week that the policy speaks for itself and that online coursework does not merit a visa. But critics say the decision will hurt US higher education economy and diplomacy. There doesn't seem to be any rationale behind this. It's not going to protect the health and safety of individuals, it's not going to serve the American economy in any way, especially given the fact that 40 billion dollars in revenue comes from international students. 5.5 percent of enrollment in colleges and universities is made up of international students. Harvard and MIT have filed a lawsuit challenging the guidelines and other institutions and organizations are expected to follow. As students await these decisions and universities scramble to change their fall programming, their future remains in limbo.Isha Sarai VOA news washington