On Monday, July 6th, 2020, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that international students in the U.S. whose schools switch to online classes for the fall semester will have to leave the country or risk violating their visa status. The decision would prohibit any student on an F-1 visa from remaining in the country under the aforementioned circumstance.
The University at Buffalo Graduate Student Association condemns this decision in the strongest possible terms. On July 14th, 2020, the Trump administration rescinded the policy that would have deported international students not taking in-person classes. While we are grateful for this rescission, we are still concerned for international students under the current administration.
The UB Graduate Student Association E-board urges President Tripathi and Vice President Weber to be proactive in protecting all international students from instances like this in the future. UB Administration should develop a concrete plan to protect international students in case something like this happens again. International students should not have to live in fear of being deported. They need to know that UB administration will fight for them against the xenophobic and overzealous Trump administration.
The University at Buffalo prides itself in being a top destination school for international students. Now is the time for UB administration to show up for international students in a big way. The UB GSA stands in solidarity with international students at UB and everywhere. We encourage UB administrators to show they do as well.
J. Coley, GSA President
Connor Walters, GSA Vice President
Joshua Joseph, GSA Treasurer