Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced modifications Monday that temporarily exempt non-immigrant students. The decision cuts across all categories of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), including the F-1 and M-1 students.

The news release published by the Department of Homeland Security said non-immigrant students are not allowed to switch to only online classes or change their course selection to participate in online classes only.

“Non-immigrant students within the United States are not permitted to take full course of study through online classes. If students find themselves in this situation, they must leave the country or take alternative steps to maintain their non-immigrant status such as a reduced course load or appropriate medical leave,” the news release said.

The development has thrown thousands of international students into risk of deportation. COVID-19 pandemic is forcing universities in the United States to switch completely to online studies, but for international students, it means leaving the United States.

The “alternative steps” suggested by ICE means transferring to schools with in-person instruction because universities using a hybrid model, such as a mix of online and in-person classes are exempt. But it is not so easy to transition to other schools in the middle of global health crisis, which means, it will only heighten the anxiety of the unprepared students.

But the guidance is seen as a result of president Trump’s push for schools to resume this fall. The guidelines’ announcement was made by the Immigration and Custom Enforcement on the same day that universities announced they’re going completely online.

Trump has insisted that schools and universities return to in-person instruction as soon as possible and reiterated his preachment for schools to resume in the fall after the guidance was announced.

Brad Farnsworth, vice president of the American Council on Education that represents about 1,800 students, said the announcement caught him and many others by surprise.

“We think this is going to create more confusion and more uncertainty. What we were hoping to see was more appreciation for all the different possible nuances that campuses will be exploring,” he said.

The situation is even more challenging considering that many countries are still on coronavirus lockdown that restricts international travels. And if in the fall the health crisis deteriorates, forcing the universities running the hybrid model to go completely online, the students’ lifeline would be quashed abruptly, leaving them in the middle of nowhere.

CNN reported that Theresa Cardinal Brown, director of immigration and cross-border policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center saying the situation doesn’t question the credibility of these universities, the problem is coronavirus.

“These are not some fly-by-night universities, these aren’t scams, these are legit universities who would normally have in-person curricula but for coronavirus. The bigger issue is some of these countries have travel restrictions on and they can’t go home, so what do they do then? It’s a conundrum for a lot of students,” she said.

For some universities, the ICE decision doesn’t come close as a solution to a complex problem. Harvard University that has moved all its classes online expressed concern over the plights that international students have been thrown into.

Larry Bacow, Harvard University president said the development undermines the thoughtful approach many institutions have taken on behalf of the students.

“We are deeply concern that the guidance issued today by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement imposes a blunt, one-size-fits-all approach to a complex problem giving international students, particularly those in online programs, few options beyond leaving the country or transferring schools” Bacow said.

He added that the guidance by ICE “undermines the thoughtful approach taken on behalf of students by so many institutions, including Harvard, to plan for continuing academic programs while balancing the health and safety challenges of the global pandemic.”

Many see the guidance as part of Trump’s way of advancing his anti-immigration policies. The Trump’s administration has intensified anti-immigration rules recently, using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse. Last month, the administration announced the ban on immigrant visas on the alibi of safeguarding jobs for the American people.

Though Bacow said they “will work closely with other colleges and universities around the country to chart a path forward,” the conditions appear to give the institutions a little or no choice. Part of the rules says that international students won’t be spared from deportation even if an outbreak forces their schools to move from in-person classes to online during the fall semester.

Discord, the gaming platform that is gradually turning into a communication hub, has raised $100 million to expand its function and services.

Launched in 2015, Discord has grown to attract millions of users who find its peculiar features including reliability, anonymity and focus on voice over video captivating.

Discord allows users to join a voice call at any time and type in various channels to communicate with other gamers. They can sit in a call and listen to music, mute themselves so they can’t hear anyone else when they don’t want to. People can appear online only to friends without speaking.

The platform has witnessed massive growth during the coronavirus pandemic, increasing its monthly active users to more than 100 million, a 47% increase since February. And it is expanding its services in countries where it had failed to flourish in the past, including the United States, Spain, France and Italy.

Discord uses Nitro, its subscription service that unlocks the use of custom emoji on the platform and livestreams at a higher resolution, to generate revenue. In 2020, it set to have $120 million in revenue, an addition of $50 million compared to last year’s $70 million earning. The platform is boasting a $3.5 billion valuation according to Forbes.

Discord has raised a total of $379.3 million including the new funding it announced last week.

“This is just the beginning of Discord’s journey to be a place for all of your communities to talk and build relationships. We’re around for the long haul. Many of you have already signed up for Nitro, which has taken off over the last couple of years, and our recent $100 million in additional funding will help accelerate our investment in the community, new features, and the company,” Discord blog post said.

As of 2019, about 30% of Discord users don’t use it primarily for gaming. It has overtime become a hub of interaction for many; parents, teachers, fashion enthusiasts, Korean pop music fans and a host of others use it to connect. And that poses a challenge of diversification to the platform as its audience grows.

Users spend 4 billion minutes in conversation daily across 6.7 million active servers. That means a weekly 26 billion server conversations across 13.5 million active servers. They are more talkers than gamers, and Discord knows that it is time for a change.

“As you have used Discord for more and more than playing games, our branding didn’t keep up, and the way we talked about ourselves sent the wrong signal to the world, making it harder for you to bring your broader community on Discord.

“Today, we’re inviting the world in to reveal what we’ve been working on, all designed to make it easier for you to invite your communities and friends to your Discord home. And this is just the beginning,” the post said.

Discord has complex features that throw new users off unlike other video platforms with fewer features and easy to navigate buttons. The CEO Jason Citron acknowledged the complexity saying: “We know that the first few interactions someone has with our service could be intimidating because Discord is complex with many features.”

The new round of funding means the platform will work to fix a lot of things, especially making more room for those who use the platform for communications.

“We’ve streamlined the new user onboarding experience and added server video so it’s easier than ever to get together,” Citron said “There are new server templates that make it super easy to help your friends create new servers. We fixed hundreds of bugs, increased voice & video capacity by 200 percent, and continue to invest in reliability and performance as our top priority.

“We’ve also made the jokes and references within the app less gaming specific to make sure everyone can take part in the fun and make Discord more welcoming. And we are launching a new website with a new tagline: Your place to talk.”

Citron said they have added things that are prompts and almost like conceptual road signs to help users understand some features that seem complex.

The platform doesn’t require users to verify their identities and also allows them to create private servers that can’t be searched. These features are believed to have made Discord a darling choice among white supremacists who have used it to host rallies promoting their ideology. Citron said the new redesign will involve rules that will rid the platform of hate and discrimination.