Dear Senators Gillibrand and Schumer,
For the last several years I have been a doctoral student living in New York state. During this time I have had the opportunity to work with international students studying at undergraduate and graduate levels. Their intellectual, cultural, and financial contribution to the school and community is profound.
I am deeply concerned about ICE’s new policy affecting international students on F-1 and M-1 visas. Not only is this policy incredibly detrimental to the international students themselves, but is likely to have profoundly negative effects on university budgets and will cause further economic distress to communities near colleges and universities that have already been deeply impacted by the pandemic.
Several local economies in upstate New York have been positively impacted by thriving universities, and many universities depend on the research and financial contributions of international students to thrive. For example, Binghamton University, where I used to study, has been a key driver in revitalizing the economy of the surrounding communities.
International students make up almost 9% of Binghamton’s student body. Losing those students would mean losing approximately 2,500 individuals who play a vital role in helping Binghamton University and the surrounding communities thrive. Enacting ICE’s new policy would be an act of bad faith that would likely diminish rates of international student enrollment for many years to come, causing significant harm to the well-being of universities and surrounding communities.
I know the economic well-being of New York state is high on your priority list, and I hope you will take into consideration the effects ICE’s policy will have on the many economies in New York state that rely on thriving colleges and universities, in addition to considering the effects the policy will have on the well-being of individual students.
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