FIVE COLLEGES PLEDGE TO FIGHT NEW ICE PLAN TO DEPORT INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS WHO ENROLL FULLY ONLINE

QUESTIONS LOOM FOR UP TO 3,500 INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AT UMASS-AMHERST

The Five Colleges all published statements in the last few days sharply condemning  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement over a new policy which will bar foreign students who are in the U.S. on visas from taking a full online course load this fall. 

A CNN article further explaining the move is here .

ICE’s move announced July 6 could force an exodus of foreign students in coming months, and have a major impact in the Pioneer Valley, where UMass-Amherst and nearby colleges plan for a mix of in-person and remote learning. The schools stand to lose tuition and fees from thousands of international students, even as they attempt to recover from steep financial losses this past spring. College towns like Amherst, already challenged by the pandemic-related business slowdown, could feel additional economic pain from lost apartment rentals and restaurant traffic.

“I condemn this assault on our international students, and want to assure you that the UMass administration will do everything within our power to thwart the negative consequences of these regulations,” UMass Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy stated on July 9. 

UMass, along with Smith College in  Northampton and Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, have said they support and may join the lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security filed this week by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which both intend to provide full on-line instruction this fall.  

The lawsuit, filed  in U.S. District Court  in Boston, seeks to block the directive, arguing it violates the Administrative Procedures Act, CNN reported on July 8.

The universities seek a 14-day restraining order and overturning of the ICE policy. They argue that it is “arbitrary and capricious” and puts them in an “untenable situation.” Hearings took place this week, and another is set for Tuesday, July 14. 

Meanwhile, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey told National Public Radio that her office is also preparing a legal challenge, and expects to be joined by “many states.”

Hampshire College in Amherst quickly offered potential acceptance to foreign students needing to transfer to schools offering in-person classes. “We are actively seeking to help international students at other colleges whose education is threatened,” stated President Edward Wingenbach.

Wingenbach said the ICE ruling is “deliberately cruel and manifestly unjust.”

UMass-Amherst has about 3,500 international students, according to Director of International Student & Scholar Services Kenneth J. Reade. Those students make up 35 percent of the graduate population, and eight percent of all undergraduates. 

There are 115 countries now represented at UMass with China, India and South Korea being the primary sending nations. 

“The new ICE regulations requiring international students to leave the U.S. if their fall 2020 instruction will be only conducted online are punitive and serve no reasonable American national interest,” wrote UMass-Amherst Professor David Mednicoff, who chairs the Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies. 

UMass and the colleges have outlined a variety of changes for the fall, including semesters that will begin and end early, and dramatic reductions to numbers living in dorms. Many plans now underway prioritize offering an on-campus experience for freshmen, and for those whose studies must be conducted in-person, with extensive remote learning options available.. 

The Migration Policy Institute, a think tank based in Washington, DC, told CNN this week  that about 1.2 million students on study visas were enrolled and registered at more than 8,700 schools nationwide in 2018.

Such students may not take a full course load online and remain in the U.S., according to ICE’s announcement, while the Department of State will not issue new visas to students enrolled in online-only programs.

“All of our international students stand to be adversely affected at least in some way,” by the new ICE policy, said Reade at UMass. 

If they are attending a college that is operating normally, students on visas will be eligible to take a maximum of one online class. Students at the hybrid-model colleges will be allowed only the minimum number of online classes necessary to complete their degree program.

“The intent of the regulations is clearly political – to pressure colleges and universities to prioritize in-person instruction despite the need for strict physical distancing,” stated Smith College President Kathleen McCartney. “I will continue to oppose any measures that threaten international students and scholars,” she said.

The ICE policy is expected to create bureaucratic headaches for students and colleges alike.  Hybrid-model colleges hosting international students will need to certify to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program that they are not operating entirely online. The colleges will also have to update their information within 10 days if they begin classes in person, but later must switch to online-only. The government will also demand notification if an international student changes their course selections, resulting in a full online course load.

“We are baffled by what we consider a terrible decision, and we condemn it,” Amherst College stated in a press release “We will do everything we can, within the confines of the law, to help our international students persist in their studies at Amherst, an opportunity they have rightly earned.” 

Mount Holyoke President Sonya Stephens said that her objections to ICE’s guidance is “ideological and profound.”
“International students, faculty and staff have been an integral part of the Mount Holyoke community and of the intellectual and cultural life of the college since 1839. This action is of grave concern to us, putting at risk the wellbeing, education, aspirations and freedom of our international students.”