Student Voices on the Impact of SEVP Announcement

On July 6th, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security issued guidance stating that, in a reversal of a waiver granted earlier this year in response to COVID-19 that allowed students to maintain their visa status even while taking courses online, international students attending online-only programs will not be allowed to remain in the United States this Fall.  

FIUTS stands in strong opposition to these plans. In order to help our community understand the real and irreparable harm that this policy would cause to our students, and the degree of pain and anxiety this announcement has caused, we invite you to read the testimonials below. We also encourage local community members to take action to help protect international students. (Please note that as an independent nonprofit organization, FIUTS is permitted by state and federal law to advocate on policy issues. Our position does not in any way represent the University of Washington.)

If you are a student who would like to share your own testimonial to be added to this page, please email Annie Lewis at annie@fiuts.org. We are happy to redact or change names in order to protect student privacy; please indicate this in your email if interested.

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As an international student, I was shocked by this new policy. I'm scared and I don't know what to do. Back in March, my friends and I have already signed an apartment lease for the upcoming school year. None of us saw the pandemic coming...What do I do with my apartment? I want to return home more than anyone. Trust me, I want to go home more than ICE wants me to. I miss my parents, my grandparents, and my cats. But how? Almost all the direct flights are sold out,  if not, they are insanely expensive (about $7000-$10,000 for a one-way trip). Most of the connecting flights have a strict travel restriction on incoming passengers from the US...How do I get home? I want to go home and take a gap year because I can't take this anymore. The COVID-19 outbreak has made me so incredibly depressed. But I have to declare a major by the end of the upcoming fall quarter, otherwise, I might lose my spot in the college of engineering... I understand that the F1 student visa is issued for in-person classes, but we didn't choose to take online classes: COVID-19 picked it for us! Why are we being punished by the impact of coronavirus? All we did was paying double or even triple the amount of tuition an American citizen would pay and hoping to get a college degree as soon as possible so we could go home. -Anonymous UW student

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International students should not, and never become, victims of any kind of political struggle. 

-Kedi Yan, UW student.

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It's a very quick and unreasonable notice because there are currently no commercial flights to Vietnam, and citizens can only register for repatriation flights through the Vietnamese embassy. It's hard to know when the next round will be due to the high demand and a long waitlist. I'm a rising senior this year so if I were to go home this fall, I'm afraid I won't be able to come back if COVID-19 situation is not improving, thus leading to an extension in the US embassy/consulates to stop all non-immigrant visa services. I also planned to find an internship here afterwards so this policy would affect that as well. -Anonymous UW student

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I am a newly admitted student to a Ph.D. program at the University of Washington and my dream is to help assist students with special needs such as those with Autism and other neurological disorder in America. I was always optimistic about my goal because America in my eyes has always been the land of freedom and opportunities where everyone strives to work hard for human rights and giving the best life quality to everyone equally.

I came here for a Bachelor and Master's degree. Spending 6 years in this country, I met amazing friends, colleagues, and countless opportunities to do good to the society. I have always respected the government rule regarding employment restriction and limitation in earning income during the time of study. I understand that American citizens come first. Even if it means I will get paid less and I will never earn fully the right to work like Americans, I respect the law and study hard because I believed in this country.

I am appointed as a staff in a department where diversity and international students are being supported. I am going to be an advocate for international student. I aim to share the difference in culture and perspective in order to diversify my program and bring about fruitful discussion that will contribute to the educational environment. Now that I might not get my F-1 Visa, not only my dream of studying and conducting research in the field of special education will be completely ruined, but my position as an international student advocate will also be loss and be replaced with an American student who do not need a visa to be physically presented on campus.

With all due respect, do you think it make sense to have this position filled by a non-international student? Do you think the level of empathy, understanding, and the eagerness to fight for these students will remain the same? 

I am not here to take away people's jobs nor to commit a crime. I am hoping to simply continue my education and contribute to the society. The special education system is far behind that of Finland's, New Zealand's, and many countries where neurodiversity is valued. I am extremely frustrated that I am used as a political tool and my dream to help people will get pushed aside.

My international peers are crying. They are crying for so many reasons. They are already so far from their family and their home countries are not even open for people traveling from the America due to the drastically high death rate from COVID-19. Many do not have a home to go to. Many comes from abusive family where they will face suicidal thoughts and premature responsibilities. Many have no family. Many have no money to buy a single plane ticket. Can they work to earn some money to afford a plane ticket? Absolutely not. Because F-1 won't allow them to earn that much.

I am utterly heart-broken. This decision not only will impact the US's brain power negatively, but it will also impact the economy. International students are usually not eligible for any scholarship offered by the federal nor do we allow to work on or off campus in positions that will yield us stable income. We typically pay full tuition that is extremely high. Take University of Washington as an example, the policy is that their undergraduate international student is not eligible for ANY scholarship. They prioritize the funding and acceptance to locals and American Citizens. Despite this, I still wholeheartedly love University of Washington for their academic potential and amazing professors. I am willing to conform to any of their law so that I can study here. However, this new SEVP law is really challenging me and my fellow international students.

And if the government would like to slap us back with the phrase "if you don't like it here, you can leave", then I would like to ask you this. What if you don't have a car and you walked 4 hours to a car dealer to buy one. You bought the car with your hard-earned money and you found out that there is a problem. You take it back to the shop and they said they won't fix anything nor give you a refund, and if you don't like it, you can leave. Where are you going to go? Walk 4 hours home? You cannot get a taxi because you have no money. You cannot get a coat because you have no money. You have no friends nor family who can pick you up. You have used your last amount of saving on this car that you believe will get you to places and earn you more opportunities to live a life.

I am not asking for more. I am only asking for you to understand and empathize with us. We respect you and all we ask for is for you to respect us. 

I would like to assure that we are here to get education and we strive to provide the best back to the community with our best skills and work ethics. We do not want to be treated like terrorists. We still have hope in this country, and we would love for you to reconsider this. -Anonymous UW student

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