Google, Facebook join legal challenge to ICE foreign students rule

Over a dozen tech companies filed a brief Monday backing a lawsuit to block the Trump administration from stripping foreign students of their visas if the schools they attend go exclusively online this fall.

Harvard and MIT filed the lawsuit last week after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced international students whose courses move entirely online would be required to leave the country, rescinding a previous plan to grant exemptions to student visa holders.

Over 60 universities filed a brief backing that case earlier Monday, while 17 states and the District of Columbia sued separately to block the rule.

The tech companies including Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Paypal are arguing the ban will “inflict significant harm” on their businesses.

“America’s future competitiveness depends on attracting and retaining talented international students,” the companies said in the brief.