Immigration Law Alert - JD Supra
Immigration Law Alert November 2017 Higher Education, International Students, Trump, and Tuition College and university officials throughout the nation are closely monitoring the Trump Administration’s immigration policies, often taking stands against significant changes and shifts, such as the Administration’s 2017 Travel Bans, as well as threats to further limit and complicate the process of traveling to the United States as a non-immigrant student, researcher, academic, professor, lecturer, or person of specialized knowledge, skill, or trade, and others. To college and university leaders, foreign students provide cultural diversity, a more “globalized” campus, and a source of significant tuition and fee revenue. In a recent Morning Call article, Pennsylvania Colleges Could Lose Lots of Money in Trump Travel Ban, reporter Steve Esack writes that, across “the country, colleges have come to rely more heavily on foreign students,” given that nearly every international student pays full tuition and fees, is ineligible for financial aid programs, and is not permitted to receive any state or federal government assistance, such as financial aid, grants, or government-subsidized student loans. Tuition is, quite literally, paid in full in advance of a college term’s commencement.” According to Esack, the American system of higher education is increasingly dependent on foreign students to prop up enrollments — and finances — with the full tuition and fees most of those students pay. The global recruitment of students has become a full-scale, full-time enterprise as the college-age population in the U.S. has declined and the costs of higher education have become unaffordable for many families. A report of the Institute of International Education (IIE) indicates a 7 percent increase nationwide in international student enrollment between the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 academic years. Pennsylvania has the sixth highest international student population, with 43,453 students. More than 69 percent of the students hail from five countries: China, India, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Canada. Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley region, which includes the cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton, is home to more than 2,000 of those international students, who inject more than $70 million annually to the Lehigh Valley’s economy. As in Pennsylvania, international students have become an important and integral part of New Jersey’s higher education system, with the state ranking 14th nationally in its international student population. Of New Jersey’s 21,228 international students, 71 percent are collectively Chinese, Indian, Saudi, Korean, or Canadian. IIE estimates that international college students contribute over $650 million to New Jersey’s economy.
But a large international student population brings more than just cash. With this enrollment influx from abroad, colleges and universities have become increasingly burdened with international program administration, dealing with foreign recruitment firms and agents, the infamous SEVIS system, petition processing, student visa initial applications and extensions, consular processing, analyzing the global financial exchange market, and ensuring the lawful transfer of tuition payments. They must handle Occupational Practical Training (OPT) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) OPT programs, applications, requirements, and deadlines, and prepare for Department of Labor (DOL) or Immigration & Custom Enforcement (ICE) random site inspections for researchers, academics, professors, or others the college employs under a non-immigrant visa. And, yes, there are those moments when a college must handle the international student who had an unfortunate arrest following an off-campus party, or is stranded at an airport suffering through the strong-armed interrogation tactics of a Customs & Border Protection (CBP) agent who refuses entry. Given the Trump Administration’s increase in immigration oversight and enforcement, colleges and universities must be prepared and proactive. All too often, colleges task a single international student advisor or admissions officer with completing complex immigration processes, ensuring student visa compliance, or attempting to address the enhanced scrutiny and concerns of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the State Department, CBP, ICE, and DOL, as well as answering the questions and demands of international students and their respective nations’ embassies or consulates. Any error, however small, can have the most serious of consequences. For example, a college’s failure to comply with a certain State Department regulation or policy can lead to dismissal from the student visa program. With hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue on the line each year and a new, tougher administration in Washington, higher education administrators must now shift their focus from a strictly recruiting perspective, to ensuring that international student program management is flawless at every phase. Colleges and universities that take a public stand against aggressive immigration policies and enforcement by proclaiming they are sanctuaries face Trump Administration threats of federal funding cuts. To minimize problems, it is crucial that colleges and universities consult with immigration counsel on all international personnel and student issues, as well as overall program oversight to ensure full federal regulatory compliance with all immigration matters.
This Immigration Law Alert was written by Raymond G. Lahoud, Chair of the NMM Immigration Practice Group. If you have further questions or concerns in regards to this topic or any other immigration law issues, e-mail [email protected].
This Immigration Law Alert provides information to our clients and friends about current legal developments in the area of immigration. The information contained in this Alert should not be construed as legal advice, and readers should not act upon it without professional counsel. Copyright © 2017 Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, P.A.
But a large international student population brings more than just cash. With this enrollment influx from abroad, colleges and universities have become increasingly burdened with international program administration, dealing with foreign recruitment firms and agents, the infamous SEVIS system, petition processing, student visa initial applications and extensions, consular processing, analyzing the global financial exchange market, and ensuring the lawful transfer of tuition payments. They must handle Occupational Practical Training (OPT) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) OPT programs, applications, requirements, and deadlines, and prepare for Department of Labor (DOL) or Immigration & Custom Enforcement (ICE) random site inspections for researchers, academics, professors, or others the college employs under a non-immigrant visa. And, yes, there are those moments when a college must handle the international student who had an unfortunate arrest following an off-campus party, or is stranded at an airport suffering through the strong-armed interrogation tactics of a Customs & Border Protection (CBP) agent who refuses entry. Given the Trump Administration’s increase in immigration oversight and enforcement, colleges and universities must be prepared and proactive. All too often, colleges task a single international student advisor or admissions officer with completing complex immigration processes, ensuring student visa compliance, or attempting to address the enhanced scrutiny and concerns of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the State Department, CBP, ICE, and DOL, as well as answering the questions and demands of international students and their respective nations’ embassies or consulates. Any error, however small, can have the most serious of consequences. For example, a college’s failure to comply with a certain State Department regulation or policy can lead to dismissal from the student visa program. With hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue on the line each year and a new, tougher administration in Washington, higher education administrators must now shift their focus from a strictly recruiting perspective, to ensuring that international student program management is flawless at every phase. Colleges and universities that take a public stand against aggressive immigration policies and enforcement by proclaiming they are sanctuaries face Trump Administration threats of federal funding cuts. To minimize problems, it is crucial that colleges and universities consult with immigration counsel on all international personnel and student issues, as well as overall program oversight to ensure full federal regulatory compliance with all immigration matters.
This Immigration Law Alert was written by Raymond G. Lahoud, Chair of the NMM Immigration Practice Group. If you have further questions or concerns in regards to this topic or any other immigration law issues, e-mail [email protected].
This Immigration Law Alert provides information to our clients and friends about current legal developments in the area of immigration. The information contained in this Alert should not be construed as legal advice, and readers should not act upon it without professional counsel. Copyright © 2017 Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, P.A.
