Faced with mounting pressure, criticism from various quarters and a number of lawsuits, the United States government has taken back its controversial order to revoke foreign student visas for those whose courses have moved entirely online.
"The government has agreed to rescind" the decision as well as any implementation of the directive, federal court Judge Allison Burroughs said in a brief hearing.
The Trump administration has been under tremendous pressure after the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the new rule for student visas on July 6.
Major universities such as Harvard, MIT and Johns Hopkins, along with many others filed lawsuits against the government asking for an injunction of the order.
The lawsuit was also joined by major tech companies such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft. In addition, as many as 17 states and the District of Columbia also filed lawsuits asking for the order to be revoked.