July 8, 2020: The Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have sued US President Donald Trump for his administration's recent move where it said foreign students in the US must return to their home countries in case their universities have decided to conduct the upcoming semester online.

The two leading universities, in a lawsuit filed on Wednesday at the US District Court in Boston, requested a restraining order to put the July 6 government order on hold. The order was "unlawful", said the petition.

A temporary restraining order will put the Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy on hold for 14 days. In court papers, the universities said they relied on the Department of Homeland Security's policy from March that allowed foreign students in the US to remain and to allow new students to arrive this fall.

The US Department of State would not issue visas to students enrolled in schools or programmes that are fully online for the fall semester nor will US Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the US, said a press release by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The agency suggested that students currently enrolled in the US consider other measures, like transferring to schools with in-person instruction.

The order potentially impacts thousands of Indian students.

Students enrolled in US universities are given F-1 Visas. The order means that those in courses that move to online-only education model will be barred from getting F-1 visas and stopped from entering the US on F-1 visas.