Dear Senator Burr, Senator Tillis, and Representative Butterfield,
I am an independent voter, and I have worked in higher ed for over a decade. I am stunned by ICE’s recent policy to modify the SEVP and severely restrict F-1 and M-1 visas. I have seen firsthand the positive impact that international students have on both the economy and the universities they attend.
International students pay the highest rates of tuition to colleges and universities — money that often subsidizes the tuition of domestic students. ICE’s recent decision to force students to leave the country if they cannot access in-person classes due to the pandemic is unfair on many levels.
Losing foreign students would be a huge blow to university budgets and will impact domestic students as well, whose tuition is lowered by the full tuition paid by international students. Similarly, forcing individuals to attend classes in person presents health risks to everyone present at the institution.
Given the value of foreign students to our country and the unprecedented health crisis we are facing, I would ask that all our students — foreign and domestic — be granted the ability to continue their studies without fear for their health or, in the case of our visiting students, the looming specter of possible detention and/or deportation.
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