COVID-19; Effects on International Students in America
By: Sumedha Mahesh
Immigration. A long known topic in American politics. Coronavirus. A much newer addition to politics and our everyday lives. Now, put those two together. What are the effects of coronavirus on immigration? Let’s make it even more specific. How is coronavirus impacting international students through immigration?
Recently, ICE announced the effect of a new policy, one that will affect international students studying in America. The policy states, according to the ICE website, “Students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States. The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States. 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 or potentially face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.” In other words, ICE has stated that any international students who are enrolled in schools closed due to COVID-19, will have to leave the United States of America or will not be given a VISA to enter the United States.
In previous years, before the pandemic, a policy was put in place by ICE that did not allow students who were taking full online course loads to stay in the United States and study. The reason for the use of this policy was to minimize the number of immigrants who claimed that they were students taking a full online course load in a US school and wrongfully getting F-1 and M-1 VISAS. Many of these individuals ended up not being students and were just using the excuse of taking online courses to get VISAS to enter America. During the pandemic in the previous spring semester, SEVP (Student and Exchange Visitor Program) put in place an exemption to the above ICE policy, that allowed international students to continue to study in the United States despite having a full online course load. However, yesterday, ICE announced that the exemption would stop for the fall semester and the original policy would again be put into effect, allowing for the deportation and of current individuals on an F-1 and M-1 VISAS and decline of students trying to get into the US for education while taking a full online course load. The policy also stated that students who are attending a school conducting in-person classes, will only be allowed to take a maximum of one online course. However, students attending a school following a hybrid model, meaning a mixture of online and in-person classes, will be allowed to take more than one online course, but the school will have to notify ICE and the SEVP that the student is taking in-person classes as well. The schools are expected to notify ICE and SEVP about this through the students I-20 form. But what are the effects of this new policy on such individuals?
Going to a boarding school, where many international students study, I am able to see the drastic effects this new policy is having. Many of the students in my school are unsure of whether they will be able to come back to school. And keep in mind, all of these students are under 18 years of age. If our school does close down in a few weeks, due to COVID-19 complications and concerns, many of these students will be required to go back to their countries immediately. I also know of some international students from my school that stayed in America after school closed due to health concerns and were planning to stay here with a friend or relative until school started again. Some of these students may have to go back home. This is where this policy becomes unfair and illogical.
Many countries around the world have closed their borders completely, and in order to get into the country, individuals would have to pay more than $2000 for a plane ticket and would also have to compete against other individuals who are in immediate need to get into the country. Some of the countries whose borders are closed include; Canada, India, Vietnam, Guatemala, Russia, The United States, and many others. This being the case, many international students who are currently in the US and are being deported may not even be able to go back to their country of origin. The United States of America has also put a travel ban on individuals coming from the UK, Ireland, and the Schengen area. This means that students who want to come back to the US for in-person study from these countries, will not be able to do so. The ICE policy also states that there will be no exemption for any individuals, including those with health problems and restrictions. This means that anyone who is immuno-compromised, seriously ill, or is in very serious potential harm and in the risk category for COVID-19, will have no other option but to be deported or not granted access to come to America on F-1 and M-1 VISAS. This seems a bit unfair, right? Students will have to risk their lives and health in order to remain in the US. And in addition to this, for everyone that is worried about the economy, international students provide about 41 Billion dollars for the United States economy. During this pandemic, with the economy failing, we could use these students in our country. So finally, you may be asking, how can I help? How can I help change this policy and allow ICE to make an exception for students at this time? There are many ways to help, but one of the best and easiest ways would be to sign petitions and reach out to your state and government officials. Use your voice and power and help others while making a change in the world!
Sources
https://www.wanderlust.co.uk/content/coronavirus-travel-updates/
https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/2015/01/who-sevp
https://www.ice.gov/coronavirus
https://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/bcm2007-01.pdf