VOA慢速英语2020 美国取消原计划推出的对国际学生的签证限制（在线收听）

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has withdrawn planned visa restrictions for international students. The restrictions would have forced international students to leave the country if their schools held classes online because of the coronavirus crisis.

川普政府已经取消了对国际学生签证限制的计划。这些限制原本将会迫使国际学生不得不离开美国，如果他们所在的学校由于新冠病毒危机改上网课的话。

The surprise announcement came during a federal court hearing on Tuesday in Boston, Massachusetts. Both Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had filed the legal action seeking to overturn the rule.

马萨诸塞州波士顿举行的一场联邦法院的听证会上宣布了这一惊喜。哈佛大学和麻省理工学院之前都已经提起了法律诉讼力图推翻该规定。

Judge Allison Burroughs said federal immigration officials had agreed to cancel the planned restrictions, which were announced July 6, and "return to the status quo."

法官艾莉森·伯劳斯表示，联邦移民官员已经同意取消7月6日宣布的原定限制措施并“恢复现状。”

A lawyer representing the U.S. government confirmed that the judge's announcement was correct.

美国政府的一位代表律师确认法官的声明无误。

The decision means that international students are again permitted to attend classes online and keep their visas during the health emergency "exemption." Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had established the exemption on March 13, when the coronavirus was spreading across the country.

该决定意味着国际学生再次被允许在健康紧急状况期间上网课并保留签证。美国移民和海关执法局在3月13日确定了这一豁免政策，当时新冠病毒正在全国各地传播。

But on July 6, the agency said international students must take at least some of their college classes in person during the upcoming autumn term. If they could not, they must transfer to another school offering in-person classes or leave the country. The agency added that students would have to leave the country even if a health emergency forces their classes online after the school year begins.

但是在7月6日，该机构表示国际学生必须在即将到来的秋季学期期间至少参加他们所在学校的一些面授课程。如果不这样做，他们就必须转到一所提供面授课程的学校或是离开美国。该机构还表示，即使学期开始后由于健康紧急状况迫使学生们改上网课，他们也必须离开美国。

The restriction came on the same day that Harvard and several other colleges said they would hold all of their classes online in the fall.

哈佛大学和其它几所大学在该机构宣布这些限制措施的同一天宣布，他们将在网上开设秋季学年的所有课程。

On July 8, Harvard and MIT filed legal action against the new restriction. Harvard University President Lawrence Bacow said at the time that the restriction "comes at a time when the United States has been setting daily records for the number of new infections."

7月8日，哈佛大学和麻省理工学院针对这项新规定提出了法律诉讼。哈佛大学校长劳伦斯·巴考当时表示，这项限制措施出台之际正值美国每日新增感染数创下记录的时候。

More than 200 colleges and at least 17 states have supported the action. Some colleges also filed their own legal action against the rule.

超过200所大学和至少17个州支持这项行动。一些大学也针对这项规定自己提出了法律诉讼。

About 5,000 international students at Harvard and nearly 4,000 attending MIT could have lost their visas under the restriction.

根据这项限制措施，大约有5千名哈佛大学的国际学生和近4千名麻省理工学院的国际学生可能会失去签证。

Across the United States, nearly 400,000 international students received the F-1 or M-1 visa in the 12-month period ending in September 2019.

在截至2019年9月的12个月里，全美大约有40万国际学生获得了F-1或M-1签证。

"I feel relief," said Andrea Calderon, a biology student from Ecuador. The City College of New York student told the Associated Press, "It would have been a very big problem if I had to leave the country right now."

来自于厄瓜多尔的一名生物学专业学生安德利亚·卡尔德隆表示：“我放心了。”这位纽约城市学院的学生对美联社表示：“如果我现在必须离开美国，那将是一个大麻烦。”

I'm Jonathan Evans.

我是乔纳森·埃文斯。