On July 6, Student and Exchange Visitors Program [SEVP] issued a Broadcast Message regarding COVID-19 and fall 2020. We consider it a thinly veiled attempt to force colleges and universities, which draw from diverse, accomplished and talented international populations, to reopen their campuses to students this fall. It states that international students will have to leave the United States or face deportation if the college or university they attend switches to online-only classes in the fall because of a spike in COVID-19 transmission. The fallout will extend to as many as a million foreign students and will create enormous hardships for them and their families.
We are planning to reopen our campus to students for the fall semester. Connecticut is a national leader in containing the spread of the virus and has effectively promoted social distancing, proper hygiene, careful monitoring, phased openings and the use of masks for workers and the general population. We will have every reasonable safety precaution in place, and almost every class we offer will include an online component. As long as this model remains in place, our international students will be protected. However, if we were to witness a spike in cases—either in the state or on campus—we will likely return to online-only classes, as we did this past spring.
Northeastern University, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement over these new rules that are leaving international students, researchers and scholars with few positive options several weeks before the start of the fall semester. CT Attorney General William Tong has joined 17 other attorneys general to challenge the rules, and hundreds of thousands of students are signing petitions requesting that DHS and ICE rethink this unpopular decision and the hardships it will create.
If denied entry or forced to depart, many of these people will have trouble attending online classes from their home countries, which do not share the simple and efficient access to online resources we take for granted in the United States; they may also be in time zones that make it impossible to study or work efficiently. Many will return to untenable political situations or face border and travel challenges due to the pandemic.
In addition to the human cost, the loss of revenue to colleges and universities, landlords, and businesses is enormous. Already thousands of these students—many close to completing their degrees—are questioning whether or not to return to the United States and will look to universities in other countries and reconsider where to settle in the future. This loss of prestige in the world’s eyes, as well as the drain on valuable intellectual resources, compromises our future economically, socially and politically.
At Sacred Heart University, we will continue embracing our international students, scholars, faculty and partners. We stand firmly against this misguided and transparent attempt to restrain legal immigration and visas. These restrictions will damage our already suffering economy and higher education’s ability to attract and retain the top students, faculty and talent from around the world who are so critical to education and research.