In a memo to college officials, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said new students who were not already enrolled as of March 9 will “likely not be able to obtain” visas if they intend to take courses entirely online, AP reported.

The announcement primarily affects new students hoping to enroll at universities that will provide classes entirely online as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

International students who are already in the US or are returning from abroad and already have visas will still be allowed to take classes entirely online, according to the update, even if they begin instruction in-person but their schools move online in the face of a worsening outbreak.

The policy strikes a blow to colleges a week after hundreds united to repel a Trump administration policy that threatened to deport thousands of foreign students. That rule sought to bar all international students in the US from taking classes entirely online this fall, even if their universities were forced to switch to fully online instruction amid an outbreak.

The new order was released Friday as a clarification to earlier guidance from March 9 that suspended existing limits around online education for international students. The March guidance was meant to provide flexibility as schools across the nation closed campuses amid the pandemic, but universities said it was unclear whether it extended to new students.

In its memo, ICE clarified that the flexibility applies only to students “who were actively enrolled at a US school on March 9.” Officials at some schools – including Harvard University and the University of Southern California, which are offering classes online this fall – had feared as much and already told first-year students they could not come from abroad,.

The American Council on Education, a group of university presidents, said it was disappointed by the guidance. “We have been fearing this and preparing for this. We’re still disappointed,” said? Brad Farnsworth, vice president of the group.

Harvard officials said they’re asking Congress to extend the March guidance to new students but don’t anticipate any changes by the fall term. New students can take classes online from abroad or defer their enrollment, the school said.

In a message to students Tuesday, Harvard’s undergraduate dean, Rakesh Khurana, said the school “abhors” any policy that forces officials to choose between “our community’s health and the education of our international students.”

The rule threatening to deport thousands of foreign students if they took all their classes online was widely seen as part of Trump’s recent campaign to pressure the nation’s schools and colleges to reopen this fall.

Immigration officials rescinded the policy July 14 after it was challenged by eight federal lawsuits from states and universities. More than 200 schools had signed briefs supporting a suit brought by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The policy was issued as a growing number of colleges make the decision to hold classes entirely or primary online this fall. As virus cases continue to rise, schools including the University of California, Berkeley, and Rutgers University have announced the move this week.

Several education groups issued letters this week urging ICE to allow all international students, including new ones, to enter the country even if their schools were operating entirely online. They said many colleges had already prepared housing for international students, even at universities offering online instruction only.

The Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a coalition of college leaders, said it was disappointed by ICE’s decision on new students. It places undue pressure on schools to offer at least some in-person instruction, the group said.

But other elements of the guidance took a step in the right direction, the group said, including the clarification that students can remain in the US even if their schools switch to fully online instruction during the semester.

Colleges across the US are already expecting sharp drops in the number of students coming from abroad amid the pandemic and a slowdown in visa processing. It’s likely to deliver a financial hit to colleges that rely on revenue from international students, who typically pay higher tuition rates.

The nation attracted roughly 1.1 million international students in the 2018-19 school year. The American Council on Education estimates about 250,000 are planning to enter the United States for the coming academic year, either as new or returning students.

The legislation — spearheaded by Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and backed by 219 co-sponsors — includes language aimed at reining in the president’s ability to impose travel restrictions on citizens from other countries and bars religious discrimination in immigrant-related decisions.

Under the NO BAN Act, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security would have to consult with Congress before imposing a restriction, otherwise, the directive would be immediately terminated. Individuals “unlawfully harmed” by such restrictions would be able to sue in federal court.

Proponents of the legislation argue it’s a necessary step to overturn policies they view as discriminatory and unconstitutional. Trump first issued the travel ban in 2017, suspending entry to those coming from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, and Somalia — all predominantly Muslim countries.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) described the bill, formally titled the “National origin-based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act,” as “critical legislation that will stop executive overreach, defend Congress’ role in establishing our nation’s immigration laws, and right one of the original sins of the Trump administration — the Muslim ban.”

“When the Trump administration issued its first version of the ban in January 2017, it was immediately apparent it was unconstitutional, discriminatory, and morally reprehensible. Its chaotic rollout undermined the cruelty of this policy,” he said on the House floor, The Hill reported.

Republicans have slammed the bill, which is unlikely to be taken up in the GOP-controlled Senate, as “reckless,” “irresponsible” and a threat to US national security. Critics of the measure say it would limit the president’s ability to stop immigration during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are spending our time with this bill that would limit it and make it more difficult for the president of the United States — any president, just because some people don’t like this president, they are going to make it harder for any president — to keep Americans safe, whether it’s from terrorists abroad or whether it’s for health pandemics that might break out again in the future. This is lunacy,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said during the debate.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Monday vowed to overturn the travel ban if elected.

“Muslim communities were the first to feel Donald Trump’s assault on Black and brown communities in this country with his vile Muslim ban,” the former vice president said during Emgage Action’s virtual Million Muslim Votes Summit.

“That fight was the opening barrage in what has been nearly four years of constant pressure and insults and attacks against Muslim American communities,” Biden said.