[ATTW-L] the ICE memo on international students

Fri Jul 10 12:43:59 UTC 2020

Hello everyone,

I wanted to write my support for international students. I can't think of a
more prominent role as an educator than the extension of care and practice
of justice.

I also wanted to share my appreciation for the response by our leadership
and other ATTW members here. Thank you!

And, in the spirit of the original intent in sharing the memo, I'll share a
related anti-racist activity for those who teach content strategy.

This lesson focuses on introducing students to 1) how content strategy
isn't a neutral practice; 2) requires research and knowledge about
social-political contexts and issues linked to the organization; and 3) how
content strategists can develop anti-racist content audit metrics to
address issues of racism. These are all goals that are seriously lacking in
the currently available scholarship and resources.

I use the DHS ICE website <https://www.ice.gov/> as a case of racist *content
prioritization*. My students and I analyzed it's content priorities on both
English and Spanish sites last semester and found some despicable choices
within minutes. Just as a quick example,

   - The content itself has notable issues, which can be placed into
   context by preparing research about immigration and interrogating the
   oppressive use of the illegal/legal binary that frames the entire site's
   content. This helps me guide a conversation about the importance of social,
   cultural and political knowledge within the scope of TPC work.
   - Regarding content prioritization, note how numerous content tabs are
   removed from the Spanish version of the site, including the "How do I?"
   tab. Students noticed how this tab included career opportunities and other
   content, which, when contrasted against the complete removal of it on the
   Spanish version of the site, highlights their racist bent that hinges on
   user language literacy.

I paired it with the chapter on "Oppression" from Moore, Howard, and Jones'
book, and a modified table from their TCQ article, "Disrupting the past to
disrupt the future" dubbed "Tenets of inclusive work." This way, students
could take insights from the chapter and activity to develop their own *content
audit metrics* informed by anti-racist goals, which is the major project
that I use this activity to prepare them to perform next.

Solidarity to everyone. I appreciate the anti-racist goal-making and
practices that our field is producing and advocating. That's where my heart
and energy is working too.

Sincerely,

Chris
--
Chris Lindgren, Ph.D. | clndgrn.com
(he/him/his)
Assistant Professor of Technical Communication & Data Visualization
Department of English
Virginia Tech

On Fri, Jul 10, 2020 at 4:43 AM Obrien, April <aprilobrien at shsu.edu> wrote:

>
> I just want to verbalize my support for all the international students and
> POC (those of who are a part of ATTW and all else as well) and say that YOU
> ARE WELCOME here. Collectively, as a nation and as academics, we are
> responsible for the well being of all our people.
>
> _________________
>
> *Dr. April O'Brien*
> Assistant Professor
> Technical Communication
> Department of English
> Sam Houston State University
> She/her/hers
> aprilobrien.net
>
> On Jul 9, 2020, at 6:10 PM, Temptaous Mckoy <temptaous56 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hey Everyone!!
> Cagle and Cana, thank you for speaking up here. I would like to mention, I
> was a bit thrown off to see a colleague suggest they are not responsible
> for the overall well being and educational outcomes for international
> students. Elizabeth, would you mind speaking more to what you mean here? I
> do not want to misunderstand your ideas.
>
> Temptaous
>
> On Thu, Jul 9, 2020 at 5:46 PM Cana Itchuaqiyaq <croscana at isu.edu> wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>> This conversation is teetering on the edge of being on the level of some
>> of the racist and xenophobic threads on the wpa-l.
>>
>> As Dr. Dragga notes, this memo is a great case study of technical
>> communication’s effect on populations.
>>
>> Please do not make the professional spaces in our field unsafe for
>> international scholars.
>>
>> In solidarity,
>> Cana Uluak Itchuaqiyaq
>> Tribal member, Noorvik Native Community
>>
>> On Thu, Jul 9, 2020 at 3:30 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 <https://wrd.as.uky.edu/>
>>> Program Faculty | Environmental and Sustainability Studies, University
>>> of Kentucky <https://ens.as.uky.edu/about-faculty>
>>> First Vice-President | Association for Rhetoric of Science, Technology,
>>> and Medicine <http://www.arstmonline.org/>
>>> Director & Co-Founder | Kentucky Climate Consortium
>>> <https://www.research.uky.edu/climate-consortium>
>>>
>>> Pronouns: she/her/hers
>>>
>>> University of Kentucky
>>> 1351 Patterson Office Tower
>>> lauren.cagle at uky.edu
>>> (859) 257-1115
>>>
>>> ------------------------------
>>> *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/
>>> <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Feducation%2F2020%2F07%2F08%2Fharvard-mit-international-students-ice%2F&data=02%7C01%7Clauren.cagle%40uky.edu%7C47ffbd4dfe41478f9c9508d82441af69%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C1%7C637299211821234773&sdata=W4U0DJOI685ysLH9Asv9z3YVVp0PsA3wsPjRQ03qsHI%3D&reserved=0>
>>>
>>> <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Feducation%2F2020%2F07%2F08%2Fharvard-mit-international-students-ice%2F&data=02%7C01%7Clauren.cagle%40uky.edu%7C47ffbd4dfe41478f9c9508d82441af69%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C1%7C637299211821244765&sdata=GgIYDSCS5lL1fS5OZS5OaP%2F6j0xtHGOGQIKndS%2FuFu8%3D&reserved=0>
>>> Harvard, MIT sue to protect international students - The Washington Post
>>> <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Feducation%2F2020%2F07%2F08%2Fharvard-mit-international-students-ice%2F&data=02%7C01%7Clauren.cagle%40uky.edu%7C47ffbd4dfe41478f9c9508d82441af69%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C1%7C637299211821244765&sdata=GgIYDSCS5lL1fS5OZS5OaP%2F6j0xtHGOGQIKndS%2FuFu8%3D&reserved=0>
>>> Harvard, 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 Professor
>>> Director of Undergraduate Studies
>>> Department of English, East Carolina University
>>> 252-737-2705
>>> 2202 Bate Building
>>> Mail Stop 555
>>> kaind at ecu.edu
>>> *Go 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 Professor
>>> Director of Undergraduate Studies
>>> Department of English, East Carolina University
>>> 252-737-2705
>>> 2202 Bate Building
>>> Mail Stop 555
>>> kaind at ecu.edu
>>> *Go 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
>>> <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.com%2Fv3%2F__https%3A%2F%2Fnam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps*3A*2F*2Fwww.ice.gov*2Fdoclib*2Fsevis*2Fpdf*2Fbcm2007-01.pdf%26data%3D02*7C01*7Ckaind*40ecu.edu*7C0cecdb5772614dbbe0f508d8235413af*7C17143cbb385c4c45a36ac65b72e3eae8*7C1*7C1*7C637298191313207642%26sdata%3DUtHXM*2ByatVpQYi49SLyny7XgDxwDaCwwOL2seZhVkyo*3D%26reserved%3D0__%3BJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSU!!KwNVnqRv!U0PxocZt15Jl_jQL1-9Nll6uHarSbF7rkM3O8COdfpbKEhPcrYVZ1zVlrrBJhdhlPw%24&data=02%7C01%7Clauren.cagle%40uky.edu%7C47ffbd4dfe41478f9c9508d82441af69%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C1%7C637299211821254757&sdata=arlvM4cmbiOmfZXegNcrdK6zm%2FWPVTOcRFTATtmmiQs%3D&reserved=0>
>>> ).
>>>
>>> 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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>>>
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>>>
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