GOOGLE, MICROSOFT AND TOP TECH COMPANIES JOIN LAWSUIT AGAINST NEW VISA POLICY FOR US STUDENTS 

After the announcement of the new visa regulations for international students, fears have crept into them of deportation in the middle of a global crisis, unpaid loans, rising risk of COVID-19 infection, dropping out a semester and many others. 

Coming out in support for these international students,  top American technology companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft have joined a lawsuit filed by the Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) new policy that bars international students from staying in the United States. Also, they can only stay unless they attend at least one in-person course.

As per PTI news agency, these top tech companies, who are supported with the US Chamber of Commerce and other IT advocacy groups, stated that the July 6 ICE directive will disrupt their recruiting plans, which will make it impossible to bring on board international students and disturb the recruiting process.

With this new date - July 6 directive will make it impossible for a large number of international students to participate in the CPT and OPT programmes. Also, the US will "nonsensically be sending...these graduates away to work for our global competitors and compete against us...instead of capitalising on the investment in their education here in the US", the directive said.

Explaining what, the Curricular Practical Training (CPT) programme permits; it guides students with "alternative work/study, internship, cooperative education or other type of required internship or practicum offered by sponsoring employers through cooperative agreements with a student's school". The Optional Practical Training (OPT) programme helps students to one year of temporary employment, which can occur either before the student graduates and/or after his studies are complete."

So if there is a sudden ban on all international students from participating in the recruiting for American businesses, it will sure harm companies and the entire economy. Not just that, it will disrupt reliance expectations based on prior policies permitting international students to remain in the US. 

Media reports further suggest that international students contribute substantially to the US economy when they reside in the United States and to perform the research that keeps US businesses on the cutting edge of innovation.

As per IT companies, international students residing in the US make a substantial contribution to the country's GDP. They also have a particularly significant impact in towns and cities where colleges and universities are located. "International students are an important source of employees for US businesses while they are students and after they graduate. Finally, they become valuable employees and customers of US businesses whether they remain in the United States or return to their home countries," the companies said.

By reducing half or more the number of international students residing in the United States it will hurt the economy, amplifying the adverse economic effects of the ongoing pandemic. If stats are correct, international students contribute billions of dollars to the US economy each year.

Further justifying themselves, the companies told the court that if these students are barred from studying in the US until the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic ends, many of them will not return. As they might switch to programmes of study elsewhere in the world which can be another cause of concern as without international students, many the US STEM programmes will ultimately cease to exist.