Over the past few weeks, controversy has been brewing up as the Trump administration; specifically, ICE passed a bill allowing them to cancel the visas of international students who's schools have gone entirely online after the COVID-19 pandemic. ICE stated that "active students currently in the United States enrolled in such programs must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status"[1].This news was not met with praise as multiple accredited institutions in the United States, such as Harvard and MIT, have launched civil suits against the administration. This bill, if passed, would not only put the students at risk of getting COVID but would also uproot their lives and force them to restart their education in their home country. This news was surprising as conclusive evidence shown suggests that international students have a positive impact on the economy, according to an analysis conducted by NAFSA, which states that "international students studying at U.S. colleges and universities contributed $41 billion and supported 458,290 jobs during the 2018-2019 academic year" [2]. The possibility of losing such investment from international students has caused numerous academic institutions across the United States to oppose the bill. To add to the outcry against the ICE bill, the American Council on Education's president, Ted Mitchell, has spoken up against the bill and asked ICE to reconsider their position. After weeks of backlash, ICE has finally rescinded its proposal on July 14th, 2020, while also reaching a mutual agreement with the institutions suing them. Although international students were able to win this battle, they still have to face many hurdles in their day to day life during this pandemic such as the normalized racism against Asians and the never-ending fight for black lives. Intersectional youth from around the world can help these issues and righting the wrong-doings of others by raising their voice and speaking up against injustice through campaigns and petitions on social media and peaceful protests against ignorance in the hopes of making the world a better place.
References
1. Hess, Abigail. ‘I would be forfeiting my education’: International students share how new ICE rules impact them’ cnbc.com, July 10th 2020, https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/10/what-international-students-have-to-say-about-new-ice-rules.html
2. Treisman, Rachel. “ICE: Foreign Students Must Leave The U.S. If Their Colleges Go Online-Only This Fall” npr.org, July 6th 2020, https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/07/06/888026874/ice-foreign-students-must-leave-the-u-s-if-their-colleges-go-online-only-this-fa
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