File photo taken on Oct. 14, 2018 shows the campus of the Harvard University in Cambridge of Massachusetts, the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

The extraordinary number of colleges and universities pooling together so quickly is indicative of the serious nature of the opposition to the brash move.

DENVER, the United States, July 11  -- Some 180 academic institutions in the United States joined the avalanche of opposition to the Trump administration's controversial visa policy for int'l students, according to an amicus brief document filed to the Massachusetts federal district court and released to the public on Friday.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a new visa policy for international students and this move prompted Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to launch a legal action against it.

The 22-page document issued by the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration representing 180 higher education institutions showed a nationwide support for rescinding the guidance.

"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 posted on the group's official website.

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