UI graduate student union compiles resources after campus learns of visa cancellations

After news broke of a visa being revoked from an international graduate student at the University of Iowa, UI Campaign to Organize Graduate Students (COGS) President Cary Stough said people immediately started asking the organization and him what can be done to help.

Stough said he wasn’t surprised to hear about the incident, the latest in a series of visa cancellations hitting international students across the country. International graduate students have been preparing for something like this to happen, he said — deactivating social media, checking on their visas, making sure their university documents are up to date and connecting with immigration lawyers.

“People are very, very terrified right now,” Stough said.

COGS is compiling resources and contacts to become a hub of knowledge for international students who need help, Stough said, while urging the UI to take a harder stance against actions that hurt its students. The graduate workers union sent out a news release to students and media with information and relevant services.

UI Public Relations Manager Chris Brewer said in an email the university is “aware of students who have been impacted” by changes to their visa, but no details can be provided due to privacy reasons. He did not respond to questions about university recommendations for affected students or procedures in the situation where Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, officials come to campus looking to detain a student.

UI International Programs Dean and Associate Provost Russell Ganim alerted international students and scholars about the revoked visa Thursday morning through an email, which included contact information for the Iowa State Bar Association, UI Student Legal Services and the Iowa Law law clinic.

“International students and scholars are valued members of the Iowa community,” Ganim said in the email.

COGS added to the university’s list in its news release, naming the American Immigration Lawyers Association, IC Compassion, Iowa City Catholic Worker, Eschucha Mi Voz Iowa and the Prairielands Freedom Fund as helpful organizations in this matter.

Many immigration lawyers who have spoken with COGS are saying if a student hasn’t heard anything about changes to their visa then they shouldn’t leave the country, Stough said. According to the release, if a student sees their student visa listed as revoked in the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System (SEVIS), they should connect with the UI Immigration Law Clinic to check their student status and discuss next steps.

So far, communication has stayed primarily within departments relating to international students, Stough said. He was told by university officials that if ICE agents do attempt to enter classrooms or other private spaces on campus, involved parties should contact the university’s Office of the General Counsel.

International graduate students should also reach out to COGS members to plan how to keep themselves and others safe, the news release stated.

“If push comes to shove, we will protect our neighbors, our friends and our fellow coworkers here at the university to make sure that this is not only a safe space where they can continue to do research and teaching, but also a space where they’re welcome,” Stough said.

University administration should make their intention to protect international students public, Stough said, and gave the option of paying impacted students’ legal fees as a good first step in offering support.

If the UI continues to lose graduate students due to state and federal actions, either being forced to go or choosing to leave, Stough said eventually it won’t have enough workers to teach courses. This would lead to lower undergraduate enrollment and the loss of revenue.

“The university should be standing up for its international students,” Stough said. “Diversity here makes us great. It also connects us with a larger community throughout the world, and any infringement upon that should be against the university’s mission.”