In July 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Homeland Security announced that international students in the United States would be deported unless they took in-person classes at universities in the United States. At the time, many universities were considering online-only models or hybrid in-person/online classes in order to safeguard the health of students and staff, as well as to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Cuccinelli defended the policy, saying "there isn't a reason" for international students to remain in the United States unless classes are in-person. He also said that the intent behind the announcement was to encourage universities to have in-person classes during the pandemic. The United States issued nearly 400,000 F1- and M-visas (student visas) in 2019. On July 8, 2020, Harvard filed pleadings together with MIT in the US District Court in Boston seeking a temporary restraining order prohibiting enforcement of the order.