It would be a “very dramatic change” with “really significant consequences” both for those individuals and the institutions they’re affiliated with, Stanford Law School Professor Lucas Guttentag said.

Federal agencies are required to consider such comments as they decide whether to issue a final rule and must address the general categories of concerns raised by the public if they do so, Guttentag said.

Guttentag said the proposed change reflects the administration’s “hostility” toward immigration, particularly as it relates to foreign students. The administration has sought, for example, to deport foreign-born student protesters for their pro-Palestine speech, though a Boston judge ruled that the effort was unconstitutional.