GSOC STATEMENT AGAINST ICE STUDENT EXCHANGE AND VISITOR PROGRAM (SEVP) MODIFICATIONS
The Graduate Student Organizing Committee (GSOC-USW) stands in solidarity with our international colleagues here at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and across the United States. We denounce the Trump administration’s latest xenophobic ploy to target international scholars by modifying the existing ICE Student Exchange and Visitor Program (SEVP) rules. Under these unnecessary modifications, those of us here in the U.S. on F1 visas will now face deportation for participating in remote instruction, should Pitt or any of its departments choose to move all classes online during the Fall semester.
This is yet another targeted attack on immigrants disguised as a premature return to ‘business as usual.’ The modified policy not only forces international students to choose between our safety and academic careers, but also makes it especially dangerous for us to join the call to cancel in-person teaching.
We commend the University of Pittsburgh for joining its peer institutions in the Association of American Universities in calling on the Trump administration “to reverse this decision and permit international students to continue their educations through whatever means their institutions determine to be safest.” More needs to be done: we call upon our University to truly stand with us and to back up its public denunciation of the SEVP modifications with substantive action, by using its considerable influence and institutional power to fight these harmful rule changes. While Flex@Pitt is not a perfect solution for maintaining workplace safety and protecting public health during this pandemic, it is certainly less harmful than forcing a third of the graduate student body to be forced to teach and learn in person during a potential outbreak of COVID-19.
We ask that Pitt immediately halt its expensive legal campaigns designed to deny us our right to form a union, and instead divert those millions of dollars to take legal action, which must include retaining immigration attorneys to serve students and faculty. Moreover, as the AAU President Mary Sue Coleman said in her statement, this decision “is also likely to do further damage to our nation’s universities, which are already struggling with unprecedented uncertainty, massive logistical complications, and significant financial losses due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.” In addition to the cultural, community, and intellectual losses we would experience due to these modifications, Pitt - and the City of Pittsburgh as a whole - would also suffer a drastic financial impact. Thus, Pitt should seek to join any lawsuit that the AAU or its member universities file to rescind or block this rule.
We are proud and honored to stand in solidarity with our colleagues from around the world, and we strongly oppose the hate that is being legislated by the Trump administration. As a union, we are committed to fighting for the rights of all people to study, teach, and conduct research without having to compromise their health, safety, or visa status. We will not sit idly by while more workers become collateral damage due to the U.S. government’s abdication of its duties. Similarly, we will continue to hold Pitt administration accountable to make sure it protects the safety and wellbeing of our community when making decisions about the upcoming academic year.
If you would like to learn more about how our union can protect international grads or if you have questions, please reach us at info@pittgradunion.org.
In unity,
Pitt Grad Union
The Graduate Student Organizing Committee (GSOC-USW) stands in solidarity with our international colleagues here at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and across the United States. We denounce the Trump administration’s latest xenophobic ploy to target international scholars by modifying the existing ICE Student Exchange and Visitor Program (SEVP) rules. Under these unnecessary modifications, those of us here in the U.S. on F1 visas will now face deportation for participating in remote instruction, should Pitt or any of its departments choose to move all classes online during the Fall semester.
This is yet another targeted attack on immigrants disguised as a premature return to ‘business as usual.’ The modified policy not only forces international students to choose between our safety and academic careers, but also makes it especially dangerous for us to join the call to cancel in-person teaching.
We commend the University of Pittsburgh for joining its peer institutions in the Association of American Universities in calling on the Trump administration “to reverse this decision and permit international students to continue their educations through whatever means their institutions determine to be safest.” More needs to be done: we call upon our University to truly stand with us and to back up its public denunciation of the SEVP modifications with substantive action, by using its considerable influence and institutional power to fight these harmful rule changes. While Flex@Pitt is not a perfect solution for maintaining workplace safety and protecting public health during this pandemic, it is certainly less harmful than forcing a third of the graduate student body to be forced to teach and learn in person during a potential outbreak of COVID-19.
We ask that Pitt immediately halt its expensive legal campaigns designed to deny us our right to form a union, and instead divert those millions of dollars to take legal action, which must include retaining immigration attorneys to serve students and faculty. Moreover, as the AAU President Mary Sue Coleman said in her statement, this decision “is also likely to do further damage to our nation’s universities, which are already struggling with unprecedented uncertainty, massive logistical complications, and significant financial losses due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.” In addition to the cultural, community, and intellectual losses we would experience due to these modifications, Pitt - and the City of Pittsburgh as a whole - would also suffer a drastic financial impact. Thus, Pitt should seek to join any lawsuit that the AAU or its member universities file to rescind or block this rule.
We are proud and honored to stand in solidarity with our colleagues from around the world, and we strongly oppose the hate that is being legislated by the Trump administration. As a union, we are committed to fighting for the rights of all people to study, teach, and conduct research without having to compromise their health, safety, or visa status. We will not sit idly by while more workers become collateral damage due to the U.S. government’s abdication of its duties. Similarly, we will continue to hold Pitt administration accountable to make sure it protects the safety and wellbeing of our community when making decisions about the upcoming academic year.
If you would like to learn more about how our union can protect international grads or if you have questions, please reach us at info@pittgradunion.org.
In unity,
Pitt Grad Union