At a University Senate meeting on Monday, Provost John Coleman confirmed the reactivation of 30 international University students’ records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System.
In addition to the 30 students whose statuses were reactivated, Coleman said records were reactivated for 18 F-1 visa-holders at the University who are enrolled in the Optional Practical Training employment authorization program.
“We began receiving reports that following legal challenges across the country, the federal government had reversed its decision to deactivate the SEVIS status of international students,” Coleman said. “All 30 students at our University whose immigration statuses were previously deactivated have now been reactivated.”
Coleman said the students whose records were reinstated have been notified of their statuses by International Student and Scholar Services. He also said the University is working alongside the Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and the state to protect the school’s core missions and values.
“International Scholar and Student Services and others are continuing to monitor the federal environment to prepare responses and resources to the future actions that may affect immigration in our international community,” Coleman said.
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Some faculty were critical of the University’s response to the issue.
Damian Vergara Bracamontes, professor in LAS and University Senator, said he is concerned the University is not providing students with adequate support, including funding for legal fees. He said it’s the University’s responsibility to assist students facing potential disenrollment.
The University referred international students who had legal concerns to costly immigration attorneys in Chicago without providing any financial support, according to Bracamontes.
“It’s not enough to just refer (students) out to Chicago, especially without having any kind of fund to be able to access these attorneys, which are extraordinarily expensive,” Bracamontes said. “You’re talking about at least $2,000 … It’s not enough to simply just give them a list of resources.”
Bracamontes also addressed housing complications for University students whose SEVIS records were terminated. He charged that the University did not provide sufficient support for them.
“I know of a student who was displaced in this University who did not have housing for the last two weeks and was scrambling,” Bracamontes said. “Faculty were unable to provide any kind of messaging or support and could only just direct them to the federal directives committee — without having any sense of what they were actually going to do to follow up to make sure of their material welfare.”
Coleman did not directly address the issues Bracamontes discussed but said the University is on the same page.
Another University Senator, Gilberto Rosas, professor in LAS, asked Coleman what the University is doing in response to international students who have already left the country. Coleman said the University is looking into those situations and considering what can be done to help.
“International diversity is one of the things that makes the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign special,” Coleman said. “This has been an absolutely frightening and unsettling situation for all concerned, including those who are not directly concerned, but feared that they may be next.”
