Yale Comes in Support Against Policy for International Students

In response to the policy memorandum issued by the US Department of Homeland Security on the 9th of August 2018, to do with how ‘unlawful presence’ for certain flagged international students is to be tabulated, Yale University along with several other higher-education institutions had given in their support for the filing of an amicus brief against it.

As per the new policy, ‘unlawful presence’ for those with F, J and M nonimmigrant status would be considered from a backdate. As a result, it would be possible for the authorities to calculate the number of days an individual stamped with such a status has been an unlawful resident of the United States from even before their knowledge of such a ruling.

This would give very little time for these international students to appeal to have this status revoked, even if it was imposed due to a mistake. It could even result in re-entry to the United States is automatically banned for up to 10 years.

In a new development, a preliminary injunction has been imposed on this policy memorandum by a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, which would prevent it from taking effect worldwide temporarily. This injunction will hold only until a decision is made by the court regarding the policy decision.

Yale added their voice to the outcry by several leading universities in the higher education sphere, stating how a discriminatory policy such as this would not only cause major grievances to international students already enrolled but also dissuade other students from considering graduate and post-graduate courses in the United States, hampering the diversity integral to these campuses.

The amicus brief, filed on the 21st of December 2018, states that the “presence of international voices adds invaluable diversity to our campus communities, and foreign graduate students and instructors enable us to offer STEM courses that would otherwise be unavailable to American undergraduates.”

This policy has been challenged by the largest public and private universities and institutions as well as smaller liberal-arts and community colleges, from 24 different states.