17 states sue Trump administration over action that strips visas from international students

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia are suing the Trump administration to halt a new federal rule that expunges the visa privileges of international students if their college coursework is entirely online during the coming semester. 

Eighteen attorneys general call the government's action "cruel, abrupt, and unlawful." The suit was filed Monday in a U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, seeks an injunction that would block the order from taking effect.

“The Trump administration didn't even attempt to explain the basis for this senseless rule, which forces schools to choose between keeping their international students enrolled and protecting the health and safety of their campuses," said Maura Healey, the Massachusetts attorney general. 

The attorneys have named the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement as defendants. 

In a statement last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that under the administration's new directive, students on  F-1 and M-1 visas "must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status."

The states included in the lawsuit collectively host nearly 375,000 annually. The suit also estimates that international students contributed as estimated $14 billion to the U.S. economy last year. 

The states included in the suit, which are home to more than 1,200 colleges and universities, including, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico,  Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin and the non-state District of Columbia.