"ICE's new policy serves only to severely disrupt international students' educational attainment, and our country is worse off for it," said Miriam Feldblum, executive director of the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, in a statement.

"This quasi-international student ban represents another unfortunate assault by the administration against immigrants and higher education," she added.

US President Donald Trump has insisted that schools and colleges return to in-person instruction as soon as possible. Soon after the restrictions were announced, Trump repeated on Twitter that schools must reopen this fall, adding that the Democrats wanted to keep schools closed "for political reasons, not for health reasons".

But the restrictions have put additional pressure on universities to reopen even amid growing concerns about the recent spread of COVID-19 among young adults.