Trump U-turns on foreign student crackdown: F-1, M-1 visa holders allowed to study online mid-pandemic in the US

The Trump administration today scrapped its new rule that would have forced up to a million foreign students to leave the United States if their universities didn’t offer at least some in-person tuition mid-pandemic. At a court hearing on Tuesday that was scheduled for initial oral arguments over a lawsuit brought by Harvard …

[martinusher]

They were getting sued.....

....by various organizations such as MIT, UC, Havard and so on so I expect there was also a bit of backchannel discussion going on.

The Trump administration is now effectively isolated from the life of the country. A 'normal' administration has a slate of experts it can call on to not just help formulate policy but also identify whether a proposed policy would pass a legal challenge. This administration has burned through its expertise so its effectively rudderless leaving it thrashing around making meaningless policies with the entire effort being directed towards re-electing the President. Trump and his administration will continue to bully and bluster -- Barr is point man here, eliminating legal challenges by eliminating those legal types that are likely to create challenges -- but as we get nearer to the election I expect these efforts to wane as everyone heads for the lifeboats.

[Daedalus]

Re: They were getting sued.....

Private Eye said it best, in re the demise of Robert Maxwell (for it is he!) and his Pergamon Press. Ghislaine is following a proud tradition.

"The rats leaving the stinking sh#t"

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: They were getting sued.....

@"Barr is point man here, eliminating legal challenges by eliminating those legal types that are likely to create challenges"

All crimes lead to Barr. But point-man or fall-guy?

Want a subpoena blocked? Don't block it yourself, get Barr to block it for you. PPP fund been looted? Get Barr to hide the fraud! Putin money funneled into Republican pockets? Barr will tell a court its totally legal! US intel sent to Russia used to kill US troops? Barr will even help bury the bodies! Get him a shovel, then while he's digging, video him doing it and back yourselves away from the crime scene. He'll keep digging his own hole deeper and deeper!

He's the obvious fall-guy.

One minute they're all "Barr is our guy", the next it'll be "Barr? Hardly know him, met him a few times, but didn't speak much to him, don't recall any conversations, shocked and appalled to find out what he did, I hope they throw the book at him!"

That's how Republican loyalty works.

[UCAP]

Re: They were getting sued.....

That's how Republican loyalty works

Pretty much the same for all political parties anywhere in the world. The idea of giving loyalty in order to get loyalty back seems to have become an out-moded way of thinking.

If Barr is a smart guy he will be keeping a careful record of where all of the bodies are buried. That way, if Trump et al try to throw him under the bus, he will have everything he needs to make sure that they follow him under,

[Mike 16]

Re: Keeping a careful record...

Yeah, that worked out so well for Epstein, protecting himself from _his_ former associates/clients.

Note to auto-downvote folks, I am _NOT_ Saying that Trump was an Epstein client, Barr and Epstein are different people in (somewhat) different circumstances, but there are only a couple ways blackmail (for profit or protection) turns out,m especially when you are blackmailing a person more powerful (or ruthless) than yourself.

I'm just here to point out the main occupational hazard of blackmail (either for profit or protection). Sometimes the person you are blackmailing decides to take an alternative form of crisis resolution.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: They were getting sued.....

The problem is that this doesn't seem to work, does it? Bolton kept careful records and quite clearly some of the things he talks about Trump doing are unconstitutional. But, well, no-one who matters cares about that any more. At the point where the person you're trying to protect yourself from can simply ignore the laws under which they are meant to operate then you're a bit stuffed, really.

[JCitizen]

Re: They were getting sued.....

"That's how Republican loyalty works."; that is because they learned from Nixon how being loyal to your minions gets you kicked out. I'm sure each administration has their hidden dirty tricks; some of them are just smarter at how to hide them, and pass them off.

[Flocke Kroes]

Re: policy being legal

Trump never cares if his executive orders are legal. In fact there is a strong advantage to them being illegal. It gives them better news coverage, he can point at the news coverage and say he owns the libs ("look at the crybaby snowflakes scream"), the order will not do any damage and he can say that the constitution is blocking him from making America great again. Get rid of the constitution so he can be the new permanent dictator and really get things done.

I was expecting Trump to cave in as soon as he realised his twitter account was at risk. Clearly he needs a new policy that appeals to voters terrified of immigrants. How about "Build a wall and make the Mexicans pay for it"?

[Sanguma]

Re: policy being legal

How about "Build a wall and make the Mexicans pay for it"?

Amazingly, the Mexicans would pay - in their droves - for an opportunity to see Donald Trump himself, and no other, build his fabulous wall, from shore to shore, in a colourful orange jumpsuit and trowel and cement blocks and mortar in his hot little hands. Mexico's drug gangs might even stop their drug wars to tour the border and watch @realDonaldTrump do some @realWork @forReal @forOnce!!!

I think the Mexicans should be given the opportunity to see such an event. There should be some impresarios in Mexico City who'd leap at the opportunity to stage such a tourist event.

[veti]

Re: policy being legal

Nail, head. What's more, I bet there's a noticeable fraction of Trump fans who have heard about the policy and the fuss it created, but haven't heard and won't hear that it's been abandoned. To them it's another of his great achievements against the stacked establishment.

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: They were getting sued.....

"....by various organizations such as MIT, UC, Havard and so on so I expect there was also a bit of backchannel discussion going on."

Isn't Harvard where most of the USAs best lawyers come from? Probably not a good idea to get into a legal spat with them. Apart from the on staff legal expertise, there's a culture of supporting your Alma Mata in the US. Not only the judge, but your own lawyers might be Harvard grads.

[sansva]

Treason

This is treason against the people of the United States. Trump is a sell out and no better than Biden. There is no choice. America is finished as a country.

[Jimmy2Cows]

Re: Treason

So many questions....

Care to explain how this is treasonous?

Does that make the colleges and tech companies treasonous also?

Is treason against people (i.e. not the State) even possible?

Will you push to change the two-party system you clearly despise so much, or will you just whine about how much a failure it all is?

[IGnatius T Foobar !]

Enough with the hysteria.

Enough with the hysteria. The leader of the United States is charged with doing what is best for the people and economy of the United States. If a policy is turning out to be ineffective, you change it. Sometimes you have to try several until you find the one that works. This is simply good leadership. This is what you get when you have a CEO in the white house instead of a lawyer. It's unconventional but it shouldn't be.

[diodesign]

"If a policy is turning out to be ineffective, you change it"

Can you read the article? The bit about how the policy was put in place with no consultation or other grown-up processes designed to develop well-rounded, beneficial strategies. It was doomed from the start and injected a lot of stress into people's lives.

Enough of the hysteria? How about enough of the apologizing for idiotic government.

C.

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Enough with the hysteria.

"This is what you get when you have a CEO in the white house instead of a lawyer. It's unconventional but it shouldn't be."

No, this is what you get when you have a CEO surrounded by "yes" people and throws a strop when he doesn't get his own way. Other CEOs have a board and shareholders to answer to and don't always get to have their own way on a whim without consulting the rest of the board.

[StheD]

Re: Enough with the hysteria.

I'd prefer a CEO who didn't go bankrupt many times. I'd prefer a CEO whom banks that aren't crooked would lend to. I'd prefer a CEO who couldn't make money owning a casino.

You can't even say the policy failed - they backed down after what, three days?

Maybe the fact that the MIT Harvard suit got joined by a ton of states had something to do with it.

Trump is racist scum, and so are his supporters.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Enough with the hysteria.

The leader of the United States is charged with doing what is best for the people and economy of the United States. If a policy is turning out to be ineffective, you change it.

How's that working out for the whole dealing-with-CV19 thing then? The policy (so far as there is one) seems to be ineffective at, you know, keeping people alive. is it being changed? Not so much.

[John Smith 19]

Ever wondered what would happen if America elected a dumb but cunning narcissist to be President?

You don't have to wonder anymore.

Fixing Trumps election to f**k up America was some of the best (and cheapest) money Putin has spent.

As the US Covid 19 death toll rises and Americans ask "How did we get here?" The answer is simple.

Either you voted for this buffoon or you couldn't be bothered to vote to keep him out.:-(

The only real power in a first-past-the-post system is to keep someone out. Getting someone in whose policies you support is a bonus.

[codejunky]

Not shocked

I expect this warning shot at the colleges refusing to open will be followed by further threats/action until they get back to teaching.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Not shocked

As I understand it, the colleges are getting back to teaching... just in a manner which doesn't unnecessarily risk exposing their students to a potentially life-threatening disease...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Not shocked

Yes. In fact people have missed the point here. We've all heard Trump go on and on about how bigsmart he is. But, well, like all people who boast about how bigsmart they are he's a just a little bit worried that he might not be all that bigsmart, after all.

Well, there's a solution to that, isn't there? All those people who are studying at university: a fair proportion of them really are smart, and possibly (whisper it) smarter than Trump. If they, you know, had to choose between studying and not dying, perhaps they would make the obvious decision. Then they would not be so smart, or at least if they were smart they would be somewhere else, somewhere far away. And if we keep that up for long enough, why, Trump really will be the biggestsmartest person alive, won't he?

[P. Lee]

TDS much?

Brain drain? And what do the countries the kids come from think of this?

Economic crash? I wonder who’s causing that? Maybe those pushing lock-downs? Maybe those burning down businesses and those who support them? Is the economy that dependent on student fees?

As for the state of Harvard’s finances... my heart bleeds.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: TDS much?

@"Economic crash? I wonder who’s causing that? Maybe those pushing lock-downs? "

Whatever happened to "all lives matter"? Or even "kids lives matter", or "blue lives matter". You undermined the lock down and now you're facing wave 2, once again a climbing death toll, an economic collapse, a massive loss of jobs. You lot caused that. Why? Why did you undermine lockdown just weeks before it was finished??

What caused Fox News, just after the curve had been flattened to start with its "the cure is worse than the disease" to undermine the lockdown that was working?

What caused, the Whitehouse economic council to issue a fake graph showing deaths would end mid April?

Look at Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. He's suing Atlanta RIGHT NOW, to overturn their mandated mask wearing. Assuming he can get enough people to *not* wear masks, get R0 above 1, he can kill ~60000 to 90000 people in Georgia alone. A massive loss to the economy, a massive loss of confidence, a massive loss of life. A massive disaster in Georgia. Why?

Come the election, he'll turn on a dime, "close the polls, its too dangerous". Closing the polls in Democrat dominated districts. All those deaths so he can rig an election.

Murder.

Trump trying to force schools open, kill the kids, kill the teachers, kill the siblings, kill the parents, kill the grandparents.

Murder.

The rest of the world has tackled it, and the USA has Republicans intentionally killing people to rig an election.

It's murder. Republican murders. The biggest mass killing in US history, by Republicans so they can keep power.