International students battle deportation fears
Irene Huang, a senior business administration major, and Nanase Niikura, a senior integrated educational studies major, are among 370 continuing F-1 visa students at Chapman who were affected by the federal government’s July 6 ordinance. SAM ANDRUS Photo Editor
After Chapman University closed its on-campus operations in March, senior business administration major Irene Huang thought flying back to her family in Taiwan and adjusting to the time zone shift would be her greatest concern. But her worries only escalated when she was met with alarming news.
“I actually found out the first thing when I woke up,” Huang said. “My friends sent me a message saying, ‘Oh my god, did you hear that we’re going to get deported? What’s happening?’”
On July 6, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued an order that would have prevented international students with F-1 student visas from staying in the country if the universities or colleges they’re enrolled in continue online modes of instruction. To ensure the security of its international students, President Daniele Struppa said Chapman frantically began organizing one-credit classes that could meet in person, either on a one-to-one basis or in an outdoor setting.
“My friends were in the States, so we weren’t sure if we needed to transfer to another school to graduate on time,” Huang said. “And if we stay and the school goes online, (what if) we’re going to get kicked out and all our rent will have to be arranged in a short time? Worrying if our visa gets canceled if we choose to stay outside of the States … if I’m going to be eligible to apply for jobs … There were a lot of concerns.”
To Huang’s relief, this emergency one-credit class solution wasn’t needed. Less than two weeks after Chapman filed an amicus brief and joined a lawsuit along with a coalition of 20 institutions of higher education, the federal government reversed the order July 14. Now, students with F-1 visas – of which Chapman has around 370 – have the option to stay or return to the U.S., even if all of their classes are online.
“I was an international student so I remember very well how excited I was to be in this country, but also how difficult it would have been for me if an order like this had been implemented,” Struppa said. “I would have been going crazy, and that’s why I felt so strongly because I can imagine.”
Nanase Niikura, a senior integrated educational studies major, is an international student still navigating her possibilities – should she stay in America or return to Japan? Her main deciding factor: whether or not she’ll be able to take the Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction state test, which she has to pass by October.
“I came back (to America) and found out that now the testing centers are closed,” Niikura said. “Financially, it's best if I can go back to Japan, but Chapman is still asking us to pay the same amount of tuition for online and in-person classes – and if I’m going to be in Japan, then I have to stay up until 3 a.m.”
Although Huang and Niikura can choose which country to live in, new incoming students are required to enroll in at least one in-person class in order to be issued an F-1 student visa, according to a broadcast message ICE released July 24. Furthermore, the student is not allowed to take online classes in their home country if their full course load is “100 percent online.”
While Huang’s friends are supportive, she called for her other student peers with American citizenship to be more involved in matters that impact international students on campus.
“People who are born with citizenship care less about this matter … and I do know some people who are like, ‘Oh, that’s definitely not my business. I just want my situation to be OK,’” Huang said. “(Regardless), I’m honestly just really really glad that my friends who are still in the States can stay.”