This story is published on Columbia Missourian.
photo by Leanne Tippett Mosby
Some international students were rejoicing Tuesday after hearing the Trump administration has rescinded an Immigration and Customs Enforcement directive that would have forced them to go home if they ended up taking all online classes in the fall.
But some were still not sure whether they would come back to Columbia from their countries as uncertainty persists during the pandemic.
The Students and Exchange Visitor Program July 6 directive stated nonimmigrant students would be forced to leave the U.S. or change schools if they were taking all classes online in the fall 2020 semester, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s official website.
Facing eight federal lawsuits and opposition from hundreds of universities, the Trump administration rescinded the rule.
The decision was announced at the start of a federal lawsuit hearing in Boston brought by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said federal immigration authorities agreed to pull the July 6 directive and “return to the status quo.”
MU administration had already informed international students that the rule wouldn’t apply to them because the current plan is to offer a hybrid of in-person and blended classes in the fall.
In an email last Wednesday, UM System President and Interim Chancellor Mun Choi and Provost Latha Ramchand assured students they would continue to provide them with support and resources.
“We recognize the essential contributions our international students and scholars provide to our entire community and will work diligently to ensure they remain valued members of our campus and community,” the email said.
Some international students were already ambivalent about returning to MU.
The total number of international students enrolled at MU last year was 1,634, and that represents about 5.5% of the student population, MU spokesperson Christian Basi said.
Among them is Chen Xiaoyu, a journalism student from China who said she had already invested a lot of effort and money in buying tickets to fly home to Zhejiang, China, in June.
“I have been quarantined for about 14 days since I came back,” she said. “If I decide to go back to the U.S., I cannot come back to the U.S. directly due to the travel ban. So, it is a big-time commitment for me to come back to MU.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, foreign nationals who have been in China, Iran, Brazil, Ireland, the U.K. and almost every country in Europe in the past 14 days can’t enter the U.S.
The policy was issued July 6. Since then, international students have been concerned about the future.
Homayoon Rafatijo, a postdoctoral researcher from Iran in MU’s chemistry department, said he and his fiancée were relieved by Tuesday’s announcement.
“We are happy that they are not going to send us back,” he said.
But he doubted whether MU would be able to continue the hybrid mode given the increasing number of COVID-19 cases.
He said he hoped the university would be clear and transparent about its plans.
Rafatijo’s fiancée, Ekaterina Lisovskaia, is an international student from Russia. She planned to go back to her country before the summer break, but then, reality intervened.
“There are no flights. Embassy is closed. And they say, if you apply to come back, you will not get a visa because of this situation,” she said. “It is really risky to go home.”
She had to arrange accommodations and make a lot of new plans for this summer.
Some international students were less worried.
Pamela Montaño, an MU undergraduate student from Bolivia, said she believed MU would make the best decision where international students are concerned.
A former MU student from Rwanda, Felix Mugisha, now studying at Moberly Area Community College, didn’t see much need to worry about policy changes.
Students just need to wait and see what happens, Mugisha said before Tuesday’s rescission of the ICE policy.
Paul Simanjuntak, an Indonesian graduate student attending MU, said he hoped the Trump administration decision would hold for the rest of the coming school year.
“I just don’t want to deal with this again,” Simanjuntak said.
MU had a response Tuesday to the change in policy in an email to the student community.
“The news today regarding international students is truly a win for the United States,” Choi said via email. “International students are an important part of our campus community. The UM System is committed to supporting our international students, and we look forward to having them back when the semester begins in August.”
The American Council on Education, which represents university presidents, praised ICE’s pullback of the rule. The group said the policy was misguided from the start and drew unprecedented opposition from colleges.
“There has never been a case where so many institutions sued the federal government,” said Terry Hartle, the group’s senior vice president. “In this case, the government didn’t even try to defend its policymaking.”
The AP contributed to this report.
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