[ATTW-L] the ICE memo on international students

Thu Jul 9 22:33:46 UTC 2020

 Those who go on a H-1 B, while on a H-1 B, can apply for permanent residence and continue employment if permanent residence is granted. 

Some H-1 Bs are recruited from overseas directly and some are recruited from the pool of international students available stateside. 

The H-1 B has been a problem from perspective of US workers based on law suits that have come up over the years. 

Before the pandemic and before currently high levels of unemployment, the administration as part of immigration reforms argued for giving preference to international students under certain categories. 

Joseph     On Thursday, July 9, 2020, 05:48:47 PM EDT, Josephine Walwema <walwema at oakland.edu> wrote:  

Joseph

You do know that that is the law, right? That if international students wish to undertake optional practical training (OPT) that is the path they have to take? Sometimes it is granted, but not always. Still the majority of students return to their countries after training.

Do you mean to foreclose on the possibility of international students studying in the U.S. because a few might obtain OPT and thereafter go one to H1B visa status (which is allowed for only six years)? 

On Thu, Jul 9, 2020 at 5:29 PM Cagle, Lauren E. <lauren.cagle at uky.edu> wrote:

Hi all,
Joseph, I just want to be clear I understand you. Are you suggesting that international students are gaming immigration status to the detriment of US workers, and therefore the current ICE rule is acceptable?
Cagle

----------------------------------------------

Lauren E. Cagle, PhD

Assistant Professor | Writing, Rhetoric, & Digital Studies, University of Kentucky

Program Faculty | Environmental and Sustainability Studies, University of Kentucky

First Vice-President | Association for Rhetoric of Science, Technology, and Medicine

Director & Co-Founder | Kentucky Climate Consortium

Pronouns: she/her/hers

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lauren.cagle at uky.edu

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From: ATTW-L <attw-l-bounces at attw.org> on behalf of Joseph Jeyaraj <jeyarajjoseph at yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 9, 2020 3:51 PM
To: Tebeaux, Elizabeth D <e-tebeaux at tamu.edu>; attw-l at attw.org <attw-l at attw.org>; Kain, Donna <KAIND at ecu.edu>
Subject: Re: [ATTW-L] the ICE memo on international students CAUTION: External Sender
International students currently use the OPT as a transitional period to get hired legally and then, while on an OPT, apply for the H-1B to change immigrations status, I believe.

Joseph
On Wednesday, July 8, 2020, 03:46:51 PM EDT, Kain, Donna <kaind at ecu.edu> wrote:

Respectfully, if we have responsibility for any of our students' educational outcomes, then we have responsibility for all our students' educational outcomes. (Our accrediting agency seems to think we are responsible.) As far as relying on international students to stay afloat, that's above my pay grade. I'm concerned about the students who are here, not why they're here.
Harvard and MIT are suing: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/07/08/harvard-mit-international-students-ice/
|  | Harvard, MIT sue to protect international students - The Washington PostHarvard, pictured here, joined MIT in suing the Trump administration over a rule barring international students from coming to the United States to attend colleges offering only online classes.www.washingtonpost.com |

Donna Kain, Ph.D. Associate ProfessorDirector of Undergraduate StudiesDepartment of English, East Carolina University252-737-2705 
2202 Bate Building
Mail Stop 555kaind at ecu.eduGo English!
From: Tebeaux, Elizabeth D <e-tebeaux at tamu.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, July 8, 2020 2:24 PM
To: Kain, Donna <KAIND at ecu.edu>
Subject: Re: [ATTW-L] the ICE memo on international students 
| This email originated from outside ECU. |

No we are not. They have to achieve on their own.  Accrediting agencies require DE support services.  We have resident support services, but we are not responsible for their welfare and educational outcomes.  
I believe that universities have relied too long in intl students.  With the coming student shortage,   Colleges will have to cope or close.  Providing DE programs for US  working adults—graduate and certificate—is the way to go. That’s a deep market.
Elizabeth Tebeaux ATTW Fellow/

Sent from my iPhone
On Jul 8, 2020, at 1:13 PM, Kain, Donna <KAIND at ecu.edu> wrote:

Those are possible explanations. However, as long as we invite students to this country to study, we have a responsibility for their overall welfare and educational outcomes. 

Donna Kain, Ph.D. Associate ProfessorDirector of Undergraduate StudiesDepartment of English, East Carolina University252-737-2705 
2202 Bate Building
Mail Stop 555kaind at ecu.eduGo English!
From: ATTW-L <attw-l-bounces at attw.org> on behalf of Joseph Jeyaraj <jeyarajjoseph at yahoo.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 8, 2020 11:30 AM
To: attw-l at attw.org <attw-l at attw.org>; Dragga, Sam <sam.dragga at ttu.edu>
Subject: Re: [ATTW-L] the ICE memo on international students 
| This email originated from outside ECU. |

The ICE memo likely is in keeping with the administration's policy of protecting American jobs.

The top two contributing countries for international students are India (from India the number currently, if I am right, may be close to 200,000) and China (possibly higher than India's) and it is the understanding that many of them post graduation move on to OPT and then H-1B. 

The H-1 B is meant to bring in overseas workers for filling in jobs that cannot be filled by US nationals, but American workers have argued that that is not the case. 

In addition, the Obama administration also allowed the H-4 (spousal visa) to be used as a work visa (possibly in 2015) and currently there may be around 127,000 or so who have entered the US job market as a result.

The above is in addition to jobs outsourced. (If I am right, a few years ago IBM's biggest workforce of possibly 120,000 or so may have been India.)

Because of Covid-19 and high unemployment levels, I think, the administration has put a stop on processing all work visas (H-1B and and other types as well I think, including the H-4).

Joseph On Tuesday, July 7, 2020, 02:54:08 PM EDT, Dragga, Sam <sam.dragga at ttu.edu> wrote:

If you are looking for a striking example of technical writing with a direct impact on your classrooms, consider the memo released yesterday by the US Department of Homeland Security (https://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/bcm2007-01.pdf).

The memo explains to college administrators that their international (nonimmigrant) students musttake either onsite courses or a mix of onsite and online courses in the Fall 2020 semester to remain in the United States.

In addition to raising awareness of the extraordinary conditions for international students, the memo offers the opportunity to discuss clarity in writing (e.g., note the 33-word opening sentence in the 116-word opening paragraph but also the headings and numbered or bulleted lists).  

And given the experience of the Spring 2020 semester and the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the memo raises ethical questions about putting the following key piece of information in a 63-word sentence in the middle of a 151-word paragraph on page 2 of a 3-page memo [italics mine]:  

If a school changes its operational stance mid-semester, and as a result a nonimmigrant student switches to only online classes, or a nonimmigrant student changes their course selections, and as a result, ends up taking an entirely online course load, schools are reminded that nonimmigrant students within the United States are not permitted to take a full course of study through online classes.

Sam

Sam Dragga

Professor Emeritus, Texas Tech University

Editor,Technical Communication

sam.dragga at ttu.edu

1-806-543-6099

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-- 

Josie

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Josephine Walwema, PhD

Associate Professor, Writing and Rhetoric 

Oakland University 

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