Dear Unnamed,
First of all, today is World Refugee Day, an international day designated by the United Nations to honor refugees around the globe to shine a light on the rights, needs, and dreams of those forced to flee.
The U.S. Department of State’s worldwide halt of new student visa interviews has ended after more than three weeks, as conveyed in a cable sent on June 18 and announced in a Department of State press release. This is great news, and we are incredibly grateful and proud to say that more than 9,500 messages were sent by folks like you to members of Congress. Yet our work is not done! As expected, the resumption comes with additional vetting measures and as Jill Allen Murray, NAFSA’s Deputy Executive Director of Public Policy told the Washington Post, this interruption in services has done damage at a crucial time for students and scholars seeking a U.S. visa in time for fall classes.
Thus, our call to Congress to intervene continues! Join NAFSA and the U.S. for Success Coalition in urging Congress to press the administration to expedite screening and processing of visas for these applicants. Be sure to use NAFSA’s new form to report your experiences with visa interviews and your understanding of how your institution’s fall enrollment projections have been impacted.
In other news, on June 17, a federal court in Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction ordering the Department of State to process passports for many transgender, nonbinary applicants. This is in connection to the lawsuit brought forth by the ACLU of Massachusetts after the department indicated it would no longer issue X marker passports. The judge determined that the government failed to show that allowing the gender X passport to exist would cause constitutional injury or harm the executive branch’s relations with other countries, in contrast to the transgender and nonbinary individuals who can demonstrate that their constitutional right to equal protection is violated by the loss of such a passport. More information is available on NAFSA’s website.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Urge Congress to convey to the State Department that it should expedite visa interviews and visa processing for international students and scholars.
Report through NAFSA’s online form your understanding of students’ experience in scheduling new visa appointments and how their plans for the fall may be affected (coordinate with your colleagues to avoid duplication).
Register for a June 24 webinar hosted by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration featuring NAFSA and other members of the U.S. for Success Coalition on recent actions against international students and scholars, an update on litigation, and actions the higher education community can take.
Thank you as always.
Best,
Erica
Erica Stewart
Senior Director, Advocacy & Strategic Communications
NAFSA: Association of International Educators
