Is the UMass Amherst Ban on Iranian Science Students Overkill?
Photo Courtesy of front page of University of Massachusetts at Amherst website
LexisNexis.com LexisNexis® Legal Newsroom Immigration Law reports on a very interesting development in higher education.
A new policy stating that the University of Massachusetts at Amherst will no longer admit students from Iran to certain engineering- and science-related programs has attracted criticism and stirred questions about the extent of universities’ obligations under a 2012 U.S. sanctions law. The university relies on a law restricting Iranian citizens seeking to prepare for a career in that country’s energy or nuclear science sectors from getting visas to study in the United States.
I wonder whether this policy does not run afoul of Toll v. Moreno (1982), which barred the University of Maryland from certain categories of visa holders in eligibility for resident fees?
UPDATE (2/18): Today, UMass Amherst, after consultation with the State Department, announced that it had reversed its policy. Iranian students had protested the new policy, claiming the university policy was based on an overbroad reading of the statute and usurping the State Department’s role in granting visas.
KJ