Swarthmore College is one of 59 colleges and universities that filed suit against the federal government to block new rules that require would international students to take fall classes in-person or risk deportation. Due to these efforts, the Trump administration agreed on July 14 to rescind the policy and keep in force a March directive that allows flexibility regarding student visa eligibility.

The College joined the legal fight – which began with a suit filed by MIT and Harvard – through an amicus brief filed in U.S. District Court on July 13. Other signees included Amherst College, Johns Hopkins University, Middlebury College, Smith College, Tufts University, and every member of the Ivy League. Support for the suit has also come from tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Paypal.

"Our society — and the Swarthmore College community specifically — is enriched by the presence of international students," wrote President Smith in a message to the campus community. "We all benefit from their creative and intellectual curiosity and diverse perspectives. This decision ignores their collective and individual contributions. It’s also an affront to Swarthmore’s mission and values, and is, by any reasonable analysis, short-sighted, punitive, and inhumane."

Swarthmore will continue to oppose any actions that target a group of students who remain among the most vulnerable to the impacts of the pandemic.