On Monday (07/06/2020), ICE prohibited any international student from starting/continuing their education if their studies are entirely online, which will also apply to students whose courses change mid-semester. This announcement not only affects students who were preparing to come to the United States but also to those who are already here and have made arrangements for the Fall semester. 

When you’re an international student being recruited to study in the U.S, you're not just sold on American education, but the so-called American Dream. The cost is substantial: the national average in tuition and fees for the 2018-2019 academic year was about $26,290 for out-of-state and non-residents, compared to $10,230 for local students, according to The College Board. But we uproot our lives and pay the high cost because we’re told that no other country provides such limitless opportunities. 

There are over 1 million students at U.S. colleges and universities, and these institutions benefit from our tuition dollars. According to NAFSA, in the 2018-2019 academic year, we contributed over $40 billion to the US economy and supported over 450,000 jobs through our day-to-day spending and tuition payments. The same government that has been happily collecting taxes from us is now putting us under threat, at no fault of our own -  during a global pandemic

Many international students leave families behind and face jarring instances of discrimination; our families do not always get to visit us due to visa restrictions. All this is in pursuit of higher education, which the current administration is jeopardizing.

American universities are advertised as the best in the world. But now more than ever,  international students like me are being treated as dollar signs and made to prove our worth every single time we pass a TSA checkpoint.  Please sign, share, and support this petition urging Congress and the Supreme Court to block the barriers ICE is creating to deprive us of our right to education.

(Vrinda Vrinda)