COVID Got Me Deported

What it means for international students when ICE orders them to leave

[Update: On July 14, the Trump administration agrees to rescind ICE rule]

On July 6, 2020, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says international students can no longer stay in the United States if their colleges will teach remotely for the Fall 2020 semester.

As a former international student at a graduate school, my phone kept lighting up hours after the ICE announcement with hundreds of messages from friends who are panicking, angry, and helpless. ICE is asking students to choose between their health or completing their degrees.

Here’s the ICE announcement in a glance:

• International students (those on F-1 and M-1 visas) can no longer remain in the US for Fall 2020 if their schools will be online only
• These students should either transfer to another school that offers in-person classes or leave the country

Forced Transfer

It is now July. Classes typically start late August. Most school’s deferral deadlines for incoming students have long passed. Most schools are no longer accepting applications to transfer.

Even under normal circumstances, no student would be able to uproot their lives and apply to transfer to another school for the upcoming school year with less than two months on the clock.

Continuing students will either have to take a leave or to study remotely in their home countries. Incoming freshmen do not have the option to defer their degrees for another year. For students whose programs are only for one year, their choice is either to spend half a year not being in the country of their school or to abandon their study plans entirely.

Even if some students are willing to transfer and colleges decide to open up transfer applications again, this policy will disparately impact low-income students who do not have the financial means for transfer applications, moving, and potentially non-refundable tuition paid to their existing schools.

Many international students depend on financial aids, scholarships, and academic resources that are not accessible in their home countries. The current ICE policy will force these students to pause their studies.

Forced Reopening

Many see the ICE policy as the administration’s way to force schools to open up sooner, so the adminstration can claim that the pandemic is under control.

The pandemic is far from over, even if you are over it. States that reopened prematurely have seen new cases soar. Just last week, the United States tallied a record-breaking 40,000+ new cases daily.

If schools do conduct in-person classes, are those schools the kind of school one wants to attend?

If schools are forced to open up prematurely, how many more communities and lives will be at risk?

If schools open up a small number of in-person classes for international students only, international students will maintain their legal immigration status. However, thousands of students and faculties will be put under unnecessary health risks just to comply with ICE’s policy.

Abandoned Career Plans

For international students to work in the United States during and immediately after their studies, they rely on the curriculum practical training (CPT) and the optional practical training (OPT) programs operated by the federal government.

I recently wrote about the struggles of students on work visas who are graduating into a pandemic:

The ICE policy is robbing international students of their opportunities to receive practical training. To be eligible for CPT and OPT, students have to be enrolled full-time for both semesters of the school year. Furthermore, most CPT and OPT applications require the applicant to be in the United States physically when they apply. With the new ICE policy, if international students decide to take the fall semester off, they will not be eligible for internships in the United States when summer rolls around.

Having no right to work and no chance for practical training, the employment prospect of international students is vastly diminished.

Lost Revenue

International students in the United States contributed $41 billion to the economy in 2018/19, despite decreasing enrollment three years in a row.

Not only do international students contribute to consumer consumption, tuition, and living expenses, they also grow the U.S. knowledge economy, lead businesses, and promote U.S. foreign policy by educating world leaders. In fact, 40% of American Nobel Prize winners in areas such as Physics and Medicine are awarded to immigrants since 2000, and 23% of billion-dollar startups are founded by at least one international student.

States like New York and California depend heavily on the economic benefits international students bring in. Specifically, New York University hosts the most number of international students in the country, receiving over 960 million from them. The University of Southern California, in second place, receives over 780 million from international students as of 2019.

Stifling international student enrollment across the country will have negative effects on students’ education progress, their career prospects, the U.S. economy, as well as the U.S.’ global competitiveness.

Other countries are already taking advantage of ICE’s policy to the United State’s detriment. Less than 24 hours after ICE’s announcement, Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon welcomed international students to study in Scotland in the upcoming school year, emphasizing Scotland’s effective handling of COVID and its continual focus on international students and scholars.

What’s Next

With all the bad news, what’s next? For most international students, their fate is mostly in the hands of policymakers in schools and governments. But here’s how you can help:

• Sign Petitions: Ask ICE to let international students stay by signing these ongoing petitions.
• Call Your Representatives: Take five minutes to call or email your public representatives to tell them how this policy negatively impacts students.
• Vote: The current administration has already tightened immigration three times since April. More restrictions are to come. If you have the right to vote, vote for representatives who endorse immigration policies that align with your views.
• Reach Out: If you know international students who are affected, reach out to let them know you care. That will mean a lot.