Dear Senator Lee, Senator Romney, and Representative Curtis,
My son-in-law came to this country on a student visa and was on the last flight out of Liberia before it was shut down due to Ebola. My-son-in-law and my daughter’s other African friends, whom she met at university, have become vital contributors to our economy and our communities, many in vital fields.
In Utah alone, the 7,946 international students have contributed $219.3 million and supported 2,185 jobs.
Now, in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic, the new SEVP modifications announced on July 6 by ICE forces institutions to choose between putting the health of their students and instructors at risk or lose their international students.
Losing these students would greatly diminish the budgets of our educational institutions and the diversity of our educational communities. Local students would then have to carry more of the budget burden with higher tuition.
Further, forcing such strict requirements on the institutions and the students themselves (such as having to leave the country within 10 days of classes being switched to online) during a pandemic is capricious and dangerous. Forcing students and instructors into in-person classes puts all of us at risk for faster spreading of COVID.
I implore you to grant our universities flexibility for local control, to create options and solutions that are best for the health, safety, and educational needs of their students and staff, both foreign and domestic. The physical and financial health of our universities and our communities depend on it.
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