There is more nuance to what's going on than the title suggests, but that about sums up the current issue going on. This is one of those topics where I'm not a big fan of the decision, I'd rather just let them stay, but at the same time, if it's online-only, and they can take the courses from their home country, the result is largely going to be the same, though I do think it would be nice to give them more exposure to American Culture. But for that reason alone this isn't a hill to die on.
That said, this doesn't apply to all students here from other countries, specifically people who come over from countries with heavy censorship laws and control over their internet. Largely countries like China, taking classes online from there it's almost guaranteed they are going to get a gimped education. Regardless of your thoughts on locking things down due to COVID, I do think no matter what you should focus on doing right by as many people as possible, and in this case, I think that, if you are going to send back noncitizens to resume online classes from afar, an exception should be made for residents of heavily censorious countries.
As for sending back students in general, I can understand from at least a financial standpoint. Generally, students from abroad are receiving a degree of financial aid either from states or schools to cover boarding and living expenses (Though this will vary by location), so if online schooling is their only viable form of education right now, I can see the argument for not opting to pay for them to stay here when the education proper remains the same.
Not a long post, but I barely see anyone bring up the censorship of other nations when discussing this, and I think it's a very vital part of the conversation that should be addressed.