By SHANNON O. WELLS
Panelists at the Information and Advocacy for International Students forum on April 22 in the Cathedral of Learning made a noble effort to reassure Pitt students concerned about recent executive orders potentially affecting their visa and immigration status, but also didn’t sugarcoat the reality — and nerve-racking uncertainty — of the situation.
“It’s complicated, even for all of us,” said Sheila Vélez Martínez, professor of asylum, refugee and immigration law. “Because this has never happened before.
“I am sorry that we’re having this conversation and that you guys have to be here, and that you’re concerned and you’re worried about yourself and your colleagues,” she added. “Because, this is not normal, and it shouldn’t be happening the way it’s happening.”
Martinez joined Delo Blough, director of Pitt’s Office of International Services (OIS); Ivonne Smith-Tapia, director of Refugee and Immigrant Services at Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS) Pittsburgh; and Veronica Lozada, chief of staff of Pittsburgh’s Casa San José, at the event, which filled the Cathedral’s Room 2017 with a mix of students and other members of the Pitt community.
Organized by the Pitt’s School of Social Work, the forum sought to share concerns and provide information from OIS, immigration law experts and local advocacy organizations. Goals included providing clarity and direction regarding visa- and immigration-related policy changes prompted by recent White House executive orders, while providing an opportunity to address questions and share helpful resources.
As Martinez acknowledged, it’s not just students and faculty experiencing confusion and concern about federal crackdowns on immigration status and non-citizens studying at U.S. universities.
“Even courts are trying to grapple with what all this means, because this has never been done in this way before,” she said. “And although the government has said in filings in courts that the termination of SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Program) doesn’t mean the termination of status, that is not written anywhere in any policy.”
She and her fellow panelists expressed hope that court decisions and litigation resulting from the swirl of policy changes could bring clarity to the ever-changing situation.
“This is all conversations and litigations, and there will be court decisions eventually that will give us more guidance,” Martínez said, emphasizing the importance of keeping up with changes. “(We’re) reading every day, going to see what’s happening in the courts …
“A big part of our job right now is just trying to figure out what are the contours of all of this, and what do all of these mean … And it’s a chore.”
Since the visa terminations began in March, dozens of restraining orders have been issued by judges all around the country who said the mass termination of students from a federal database was flagrantly illegal because of the lack of due process.
Days after the forum, on April 25, the Trump administration abruptly moved to restore thousands of international students’ ability to study in the United States legally, amid a wave of court challenges, although the administration characterized it as only a temporary reprieve.
On April 29, Pitt Provost Joe McCarthy shared a message with the Pitt community that the SEVIS records of six impacted Pitt students or recent graduates had been restored.
If a student’s SEVIS record is terminated, it means their legal status as a student in the U.S. is effectively ended. This typically requires the student to either leave the U.S. or attempt to reinstate their status. Those students could potentially be picked up for deportation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
The Department of Justice said ICE is working on a new policy regarding foreign students studying in the United States on F-1 visas. Currently, students on an F-1 visa must show they have enough financial support for their course of study in the U.S. They have to remain in good standing with their academic program and are generally limited in their ability to work off-campus during their academic program.
Until the new policy is issued, the Justice Department said no students will have their SEVIS records terminated “solely based on” criminal history checks that had flagged misdemeanor charges and dismissed cases.
Inside Higher Education reported this week that the Trump administration has issued plans for a new policy that vastly expands federal officials’ authority to terminate students’ legal residency status. The policy asserts that immigration officials have the “inherent authority” to terminate students’ legal residency status in SEVIS “as needed.” It also explicitly lays out two new justifications for SEVIS terminations: the vague “evidence of failure to comply” with nonimmigrant visa terms, and a visa revocation, which can be issued without evidence of a violation by the State Department — and which is not subject to court challenges.
Proactive students
At the April 22 forum, a master’s degree student in the School of Social Work said she and several friends skipped their class to attend.
Sharing a letter regarding the executive orders and increased presence of ICE officers on university campuses, she thanked Betsy Farmer, School of Social Work dean, and various Pitt healthcare workers and scientists who “joined in sending their letter to Pitt’s chancellor, provost, Board of Trustees and deans” as well as local government officials, including Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey.
One proposal in the letter, “Protecting the Campus,” calls for a “specific statement regarding what the Pitt Police plan to do when responding to ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) presence on campus. Right now, students have been told to call (police) … What does that mean?” she asked. “Are they going to comply with ICE?
“Are they there to verify that plainclothes individuals are ICE agents? What does that mean?” she added. “We would like a more specific statement on that.”
Panelist Veronica Lozada, of Casa San Jose, a community resource center that advocates for Latinos, said “Pittsburgh Police … they are not collaborating with ICE,” adding that her group has been assured by the police and Pittsburgh’s mayor that, “They are not working with ICE whatsoever.”
In a message shared on April 25, Chancellor Joan Gabel said, “We are not aware of any federal authorities visiting our campuses for enforcement purposes.” Gabel’s message said Pitt recognizes that members of the University community have “specific questions about potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement visits to campus, as well as general best practices for visits by government agencies.”
Also, the Pitt Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management issued a memo on “Best Practices for Visits by Government Officials.” The memo said that if an individual claiming to be a government agent contacts you or comes to your area requesting information or access, you should contact:
1. University of Pittsburgh Police Department at 412-624-2121 for help in verifying credentials and clarifying the purpose of their visit, as appropriate; and then the Office of University Counsel at 412-624-5674 for advice about how to proceed.
2. If the visit is related to a student, faculty or staff member on a Pitt-sponsored visa, you should next contact the Office of International Services at 412-624-7120.
3. Until the Pitt Police arrive, please ask the individuals to remain in the lobby/entrance area of your space, if applicable, and do not share information with them.
Furthermore, the School of Social Work student said she and others are creating a secure, Signal app-based “buddy system” for international students, “especially those who are staying over the summer, who are maybe not comfortable traveling home and coming back in (the U.S.) and dealing with that,” she said.
“As a student, if you are ready to go somewhere and you need a buddy, you can ask for one,” she explained.
“As these meetings with the chancellor, provost and others move forward, we ask you to remember that without students, there is no University,” she said. “And we hope that the solidarity that was used to create this letter is upheld for all students.”
SEVIS and status
“This has had a chilling effect, and I think that’s the intended effect,” said Amanda Varga, MSW program assistant in the School of Social Work, who moderated the event. She asked the panelists what kinds of activities or situations could impact the student classification and their ability to continue in their studies.
Martinez described a visa as an instrument that allows non-U.S. citizens to “knock on the door to enter the United States” for a specific purpose and time period.
“Once someone enters the United States with a visa, they (no longer) need a visa,” she explained. “They can remain in the United States during the period of admission, as long as they don’t engage in conduct that makes them removable.”
Delo Blough said SEVIS is “simply a database that the government implemented — actually after 9/11 — and it creates a way for the government to keep tabs on all of the people coming in to study or to be here, as under the J1 Exchange Visitor Visa.”
The onus to maintain records on behalf of the government was put on learning institutions, Blough explained. “And we don’t have a choice in that, because once we say, ‘No, that’s not our job. We don’t want to do that,’ then we don’t get any international students to campus.”
For example, an international student studying law is fine until they, say, “try to kill the law professor because (their) exam was horrible,” Martinez said. “That’s an activity that would get you removed from the United States … and that is different from immigration status.”
The latter comes into play once a visa expires and a student wants to remain in the U.S.
“How you are admitted in the United States determines your immigration status, and once you engage in activities … outside the authorized real estate, you might lose that immigration status,” she said. “You don’t need the visa to remain.”
Avoiding trouble
One of the most important things, Lozada emphasized, is “just don’t get in trouble. DUI is the No. 1 (offense to avoid) for our families. … Please, we have Uber now, right, so just use the resources that we have. Just be conscious of that.”
The SEVIS terminations in March, Blough said, were based on “very minor activities from a student, maybe for speeding or for something like that … and the government is going in and terminating those SEVIS records.”
While it’s OK to say hello to a police officer, she advised not doing “anything that’s going to get you a police record of any sort.”
“But that’s really difficult to do,” she said. “I mean, a number of us — around these roads, at least — don’t exactly go the speed limit. … It’s hard not to do that.”
Martinez said a colleague of hers who looked at 1,500 SEVIS terminations around the country, said there’s “really no pattern” of what type of legal offenses might get you in trouble.
“She’s seen from traffic violations — DUIs — to someone taking lipstick (from a store) without paying. There is no pattern … regarding nationalities and background,” she said, although Asian students appear to be more vulnerable. “There are also more Asian students (in the United States).”
She advised avoiding places more likely to invite trouble, such as “a bar where people get really drunk and you might be part of a brawl.”
There also have been cases involving domestic violence. “That is really, really problematic … even when you’re going to try to get a bond,” she said. “Most judges will not give bond to someone that has been involved in partner violence.”
Students who engage with activist organizations also are being “disproportionately targeted,” Martinez said. “I can’t tell someone not to exercise their freedom of speech … but you need to know that that might be a consequence.”
Shannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu.
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