The University of California announced its plans Wednesday to sue the federal government after Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s notification of temporary procedural adaptations related to online courses, which would deny visas to international students who are enrolled in schools or programs that are fully online.
“This announcement creates uncertainty and anxiety for our students and their families, and for our entire UC Santa Barbara community,” UCSB Chancellor Yang said. “It works in opposition to our values as an inclusive and welcoming community.”
ICE announced the procedural adaptations, permitted by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, on Tuesday. Due to COVID-19, SEVP previously instituted a temporary exemption regarding the online study policy for spring and summer semesters. The procedural guidelines will be adapted again for the fall term.
The adaptations mandate that students with F-1 and M-1 visas transfer to universities offering in-person instruction or “face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.”
“When you receive your visa, you see it sort of like a contract between yourself and the U.S. immigration services,” said Ph.D. student Julien Labarre, whose visa is set to expire in 2024. “If you behave well, if you keep your job and do what you’re going to do in the States, then the date of expiration on your visa is the expiration date of that consensual contract.
“It feels like I’m being told that I’m not welcome in this country anymore for reasons that I am not responsible for.”
The lawsuit planned by the University of California will seek a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctive relief to ban ICE from enforcing the adaptations. The institution plans to argue that ICE failed to follow the Administrative Procedure Act and failed to consider both the universities’ and students’ interests.
“This capricious and illegal order from the federal government plunges [students] into deeper anxiety and uncertainty,” UC President Janet Napolitano said. “It is illegal, unnecessary and callous.”
It will be the second lawsuit that UC has filed against the Department of Homeland Security claiming negligence in upholding the rules governing agency actions. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of UC last month, overturning the government’s reversal policy for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
“We are the University of California,” UC Board of Regents Chairman John Perez. “UC knows science, UC knows law, and we approach both in good faith. Our opponents have shown you time and again that they do not.”
While both Santa Barbara City College and UCSB announced plans for hybrid fall instruction, international students struggle to find available in-person courses because of fewer options offered amid COVID-19 health and safety concerns.
“I’m going to try to take one in-person class at UCSB, but I tried looking and it’s been really hard. I can’t find any,” said Yuri Shoon, an international student from Myanmar. “I’m going to wait two months, but if things don’t get better, I’ll have to leave if I don’t want to get deported.”
International students made up 14 percent of the UCSB student population for the 2019-20 school year, and 18 percent of SBCC’s student population.
The SEVP mandate would not exempt international students even if an outbreak occurs that forces schools to return to online-only instruction.
“My college has made some classes available in person, so I plan to take one of these, which will allow me to stay here,” said Jinhee Hwang, a first-year international SBCC student from South Korea. “But even that is uncertain because if COVID-19 causes all classes to go back online during the semester, I have to leave the country in the middle of my studies.”
While UCSB has no specific plan of action at this time, the Office of International Students and Scholars says time is of the essence and “is committed to advocating on behalf of international students.”
Walid Afifi, director of UCSB’s Center for Middle East Studies, said there has been talk among professors and graduate students on campus regarding the possibility of creating one-on-one study courses to allow international students to remain in the country.
“There are a number of folks at UCSB that would immediately create a system that would allow for one-on-one study,” he said.
Although a one-on-one system would create organizational and logistical complications, Afifi said he is fairly confident that UCSB would show that sort of allyship with its international students.
“Our international students enrich the academic community for us all,” Chancellor Yang said. “Efforts are already underway to explore all options to assist our international students in achieving their academic goals without interruption.”
SBCC’s International Student Office has not released a statement or plan of action.
— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at jmartinez-pogue@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
