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DENVER, the United States, July 11-- Some 180 academic institutions in the United States joined the avalanche of opposition to the Trump administration's controversial visa policy for int'l students, according to an amicus brief document filed to the Massachusetts federal district court and released to the public on Friday. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a new visa policy for international students and this move prompted Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to launch a legal action against it. The 22-page document issued by the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration representing 180 higher education institutions showed a nationwide support for rescinding the guidance. "ICE's new policy serves only to severely disrupt international students' educational attainment, and our country is worse off for it," said Miriam Feldblum, executive director of the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration in a statement posted on the group's official website. "This quasi-international student ban represents another unfortunate assault by the administration against immigrants and higher education," she added. The Alliance is composed of over 450 presidents and chancellors of public and private colleges and universities, representing over 5 million students in 41 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. The extraordinary number of colleges and universities pooling together so quickly is indicative of the serious nature of the opposition to the brash move, academic pundits said. | 
