ICE and Foreign Students
Reading the articles about ICE and their intentions to essentially send away foreign students from the US if they had a fully online schedule reminded me that I myself have friends who are currently considered “foreign students” simply because they weren’t born in this country. For example, I’ve gone to school with one of my friends since third grade. Because he was born in India and didn’t yet have a green card, he was threatened by ICE’s policies. I would have to consider myself lucky because even though I was born in India, I moved to the US when I was 2 years old and finally received my green card when I was almost 14 years old. In this country, it can sometimes take that long to actually be considered a permanent resident and another five years to be considered a citizen. The articles that I’ve read emphasize the law that would ultimately prevent these foreign students from receiving an education in American universities simply because they aren’t considered permanent residents. Looking deeper into it, I feel like this law may be due to an ulterior motive where ICE is trying to strip away a quality education from these foreign students by making immigrants scapegoats once again. This idea of immigrants being scapegoated is quite prevalent in our history, and even this year with the rise of the coronavirus, many Chinese-Americans were targeted. I believe that ICE is dishonorable in actually trying to send these students away and there should indeed be a different alternative that also helps benefit our own country.
Adams, Susan. “Harvard And MIT Sue The Federal Government Over ICE Deportation Policy.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 13 July 2020, www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2020/07/08/harvard-and-mit-sue-the-federal-government-over-ice-deportation-policy/.
“SEVP Modifies Temporary Exemptions for Nonimmigrant Students Taking Online Courses during Fall 2020 Semester.” ICE, www.ice.gov/news/releases/sevp-modifies-temporary-exemptions-nonimmigrant-students-taking-online-courses-during.
“180 Institutions of Higher Education Join Litigation in Opposing Administration’s ‘International Student Ban.’” Presidents’ Alliance, www.presidentsalliance.org/press/180-institutions-of-higher-education-join-litigation-in-opposing-administrations-international-student-ban/.
