Statement of Demands by UIUC GEO in Response to ICE SEVP Guidance on COVID-19 and Fall 2020
To Robert J. Jones, Chancellor; Andreas C. Cangellaris, Provost & Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs; Danita M. Brown Young, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs; Reitumetse Obakeng Mabokela, Vice Provost for International Affairs and Global Strategies; Martin McFarlane, Director of International Student and Scholar Services; Sean Garrick, Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Deans of Colleges; Heads of Departments; and the Faculty and Staff of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), IFT/AFT Local 6300, affirms that the recent ICE decision affecting F-1 and M-1 visa holders is a racist, xenophobic, ableist, and dangerous policy that opposes current public health guidelines and endangers many lives. While the GEO is pleased to hear that the University plans to file amicus briefs to support other universities’ legal actions against ICE, we believe UIUC could take further steps to support international students during a global pandemic, which we will outline below.
The international community is under attack once again by the current US Administration. By stating, “Through this guidance, DHS is seeking to maximize flexibility for students to continue their studies, while minimizing the risk of transmission of COVID-19 by not admitting students into the country who do not need to be present to attend classes in-person,” ICE uses the guise of the COVID-19 pandemic and a supposed interest in people’s health to enact regulations seeped in xenophobia, racism, and scapegoating. ICE as an institution is antithetical to people’s health, safety, and wellbeing, and this directive does not give international students “flexibility”; it only creates vulnerability.
A quarter of all UIUC students are international students, and they represent more than 35% of graduate students. They are at the very core of the University’s strength and identity, often overcoming tremendous financial, logistical and cultural barriers to take part in an educational experience that is fundamentally enriched by diversity.
Our University Administration often prides themselves on the University’s historical connection with the international community, citing for instance Rabindranath Tagore giving his first public address in the US on campus grounds. We now need this historical commitment to be honored and upheld. The decisions we make at these times should respond to thoughtful and close assessments of the current health situation at our institution and communities—not to authoritarian definitions rooted in xenophobia. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, the University Administration has stressed that “our priority is people’s health.” The GEO demands the University stand by this claim by prioritizing the health and safety of all on campus, regardless of their nationality or immigration status.
Northwestern University and University of Michigan have now joined Harvard and MIT in the legal fight against ICE, providing amicus briefs (letters of support for the universities undertaking the lawsuit). We applaud the U of I’s recent statement in which they announce their filing of an amicus brief and their support for the state of Illinois in suing the Trump administration as well. However, we call on the University Administration to do more and follow through with this intention, as well as sign on to the lawsuit to demonstrate more serious support. While the GEO is interested in immediate solutions to circumvent the recent ICE decision—including a no-cost, optional-attendance, one-credit course for international students that would count as ‘in-person’—it is important to recognize that this would not challenge the ICE policy at its core, which endangers the lives of thousands of international students across the country. Circumventing the new rules is, at best, a short-term fix to save our students in the immediate future; but if we don’t make the choice to fight now and call for a total rejection of these rules, ICE and the US administration will continue to persecute our foreign community. Now is not the time to meekly accept what is given to us as scraps of liberty—in fact there was never such a time. Now is the time to put People First, and reclaim our right as a community to protect our own and allow ourselves to thrive.
We request a response to the following demands by July 24, 2020:
We hereby call on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the lobbyists and lawyers who act on their behalf to continue to demand the overturn of the new policy targeting F-1 and M-1 students and the reversal of the White House Proclamation on worker visas.
We further demand:
Legal Counsel/Legal Fees
The University must provide international students and workers with legal counsel and establish a fund for the legal fees incurred by our students relative to these new policies as well as ongoing policy changes around immigration (such as DACA).
Continuity of Pay and Financial Support
The University must continue to compensate all graduate students, graduate student workers, and undergraduate student workers regardless of status, location, or employment restrictions. A fund should be established for this purpose.
The University must reduce the overall fees for students who are forced to continue their programs online from abroad.
Degree Completion & Deferral
The University must ensure that this policy will not impede degree completion for graduate or undergraduate international students. The University should grant at least two years deferral to incoming international students. The University should extend graduation deadlines and funding for graduate students as well.
Guaranteed Course Options Coded as In-Person
The University must set up no-cost, 1-credit seminars, no attendance required, coded as in-person, to immediately protect international students impacted by the ICE policy. Such an option should always be provided unconditionally as long as these ICE regulations are in place, regardless of which public health and safety precautions are taken.
These courses should be offered in addition to the existing course list, should not impose additional academic burdens, and should be available as credit/no credit options, with an extended add-drop deadline of two weeks upon consultation with an advisor.
Any course added on to a student’s course load solely for the purpose of ensuring DHS compliance must be provided at no additional cost to the student.
University-Level Response & Protections
The University must guarantee protections for international students affected by this ICE decision at the university level, rather than relegating responsibility to individual departments, faculty, or teaching assistants.
The University must reach out to every international student impacted by this decision to ensure that they will be able to remain in the U.S. if they wish without being forced to take in-person courses that endanger their health and safety.
Sanctuary Campus & Noncompliance with ICE
The University must designate itself as a Sanctuary Campus for Undocumented Community Members. We echo the demands of the UIUC as Sanctuary for Undocumented Community Members Petition from 2016 that received almost 2000 signatures. In particular, we demand that the University guarantee student privacy by refusing to release information regarding the immigration status of our students and community members and refuse to comply with immigration authorities regarding deportations or raids.
Protections in the event of UIUC going fully online in Fall 2020
Given that almost all international students will face severe difficulties in continuing to study, teach, and conduct research from abroad, we demand that the University establish the principle that students who are currently in the U.S. are unable to depart the country under any circumstances, and respond to ICE requests accordingly.
The University must commit to retaining the official “in-person” status of certain online courses that do not require in-person attendance earmarked for international students, regardless of what public health and safety precautions are taken.
Protections for International Students Currently Abroad
The University must reach out proactively to students who are currently abroad and offer adequate legal guidance on the process of maintaining or receiving new I-20 documents, applying for new F-1 visas or maintaining their current legal status.
The University must disclose, with full transparency from ISSS, to all international students what the full range of University resources (e.g. legal expertise) as well as collaborations with other higher education institutions, UIUC can offer in terms of remote support to students in maintaining or re-applying for F-1 visas.
The University must support students forced to continue their coursework from abroad through distance learning by ensuring technology access (e.g. VPNs, WiFi access, software applications like STATA at subsidized rates) including considerations for student academic performance through digital modes (e.g. access to digital textbooks and readings, time zone differences, disabilities that may mediate distance learning).
The University must ensure that students who are forced to reapply for F1 visas are able to complete their respective programs without disruption. Following the lead of other institutions, the University must maintain active student status even when F-1 visa status lapses for continuing students outside the US for more than 9 months.
GEO Bargaining
The University must commit to bargaining in good faith with the GEO in any future bargaining sessions related to the DHS guidance in question or related immigration policy decisions, in order to protect the labor rights of all international graduate student employees and graduate workers more broadly.
Amnesty for consequences of visa status change
The University must ensure that any advocacy includes requests for amnesty and the waiving of repercussions for undue disruptions or inconsistencies in immigration history. For instance, F-1 students who are currently abroad for research purposes and cannot return within the 9-month window they are allowed outside the US, are likely to have their F-1 status revoked and be forced to apply for a new F-1 visa. Interruptions in F-1 status typically impact a student’s eligibility for Curricular Practical Training (CPT) and Optional Practical Training (OPT) opportunities. We call upon UIUC to vehemently advocate on behalf of international students to ensure that they will not face repercussions in the future due to the upheavals caused by the DHS guidance.
Signed,
Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), IFT/AFT Local 6300
GEO International Students Working Group