Just six weeks before many international students start their fall terms, ICE has implemented a rule change that would force thousands out of the country.
Sign Petition: Tell ICE To Not Deport International Students
Under the new student visa regulations, international students must enroll into in-person classes at their institution to remain in the United States. ICE waited until many colleges and universities had already finalized their class schedules or made decisions about being entirely online for the term to announce these changes.
ICE’s goal here is transparent: Force as many foreign students out of the United States as possible, in the middle of a global pandemic. Remember – the cruelty is the point.
There’s hope. MIT and Harvard have launched lawsuits to block the Trump administration’s sabotage. Across the country, students and teachers are making last-minute 1 credit courses to help international students stay here. It’s inspiring to see.
But it shouldn’t be the burden of college undergraduates and TAs to block Trump’s inhumane policy agenda. Our leaders have to act against a transparently xenophobic rule change that was kept hidden until the very last moment.
Shockingly, it gets worse. Many experts suspect that the Trump administration’s real motivation was to force colleges and universities to reopen in-person classes this fall – even if it was unsafe. As the second wave of COVID crashes upon numerous states, it is unthinkable that our federal government would force schools to choose between deporting students or risking their lives.
