US protests “shouldn’t affect” international student attraction

While the prospect of possible victims of crime could give international students pause for choosing the US, the student protests on campuses across the country won’t necessarily discourage them from applying, it has been said.

The vice president and chief of staff of Government relations at the American Council on Education told The PIE News that there has been a “lot of discussion about how the protests are an example of our democracy in action”.

“It includes a lot of discussion about free speech policies and freedom, which I think is really attractive to international students as they consider the US,” said Sarah Spreitzer.

“I think one of the things that causes international students to pause when considering the US, is crime – and so I do worry about [what happens if] the protests become violent, there are concerns about that – but I don’t think [the protests] will discourage international students from studying in the US,” she continued.

For internationals that may be involved in protests, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to Fox News that international students that are “in status” if they are making progress on their course, and a temporary suspension “wouldn’t necessarily impact their status”.

Even if it were believed that a suspension “merited the decision” that they are not making progress on their degree, potential initiation of removal from the US would still be decided on a “case-by-case basis” involving ICE and the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.

Spreitzer said that any permanent suspensions or expulsions may have an impact on visa status.

“If local law enforcement is called, and there are criminal offences such as trespassing… then they could be out of status if they do commit a crime, while they are here under their US visa,” she further noted.

Tennessee Republican senator Marsha Blackburn called for the “immediate” deportation of all international students studying in the US “that support Hamas” in a recent tweet.

Immediately deport all foreign students studying in the USA that support Hamas. We should also revoke federal student loans for any American student arrested for supporting Hamas.

— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) April 22, 2024

The most prominent protests have occurred at Columbia University near New York, where over 100 demonstrators were arrested on April 18. In the last 24 hours, more arrests have been made.

A teacher at Columbia journalism school, Margaret Sullivan, told The Guardian that while many are calling for a ceasefire, they are chiefly “calling on their own universities to divest from Israel and the occupation in Palestine”.

Upon a request for comment on the protests on its campus, as well as how it might affect international students that could be involved in protests – and those who are not that might have safety concerns –Columbia declined to answer questions or provide a statement.

“There’s been a lot of discussion about how the protests are an example of our democracy in action”

Reactions to the protests have ranged from NYPD officers being sent onto Columbia’s campus, arresting over 100 students, to an Emory professor being arrested for attempting to question officers who were arresting student protesters on campus.

One argument that has arisen from the protests is the question of whether dismantling peaceful demonstrations encroaches on students’ right to academic freedom of expression and free speech.

California’s Polytechnic University at Humboldt said protests resulted in a “confrontation” with students who refused to move from the institution’s main hall to its university quad.

“This has nothing to do with free speech or freedom of inquiry. It is lawless [behaviour] that has harmed the vast majority of our students whose education has been interrupted… and drained resources from the accomplishment of our core educational purpose,” a spokesperson for the university told The PIE.

The damage to the school due to the “illegal activities” is estimated to be in the millions, they added.

Asked how the issue might affect international students involved or those on campus, it declined to comment citing privacy protections for “specific student conduct cases”.

While arrests have also occurred at Indiana University Bloomington, a representative gave The PIE a statement saying that the institution’s commitment to free speech is “unwavering”.

“Everyone has the right to peacefully rally or protest on our campus, and we will do our best to ensure that everyone can exercise these rights in a safe environment,” it read.

The ACLU said in a statement that schools “must not single out particular view points for censorship”.

“Harassment directed at individuals because of their race, ethnicity, or religion is not, of course, permissible.

“But general calls for a Palestinian state ‘from the river to the sea’, or [defences] of Israel’s assault on Gaza, even if many listeners find these messages deeply offensive, cannot be prohibited or punished by a university that respects free speech principles,” ACLU went on to argue.

As many as 20 campuses have been involved in reports of arrests of student protesters, and those who have gone onto campus to protest that were not registered students, according to the New York Times.

As of April 30, Columbia has begun to suspend identified student protesters who “refused to abide by the deadline to vacate the campus encampment”, and a group of student protesters have occupied a key building on campus.

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