University of 91吃瓜 President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., today announced that the University would in coming days file an amicus curiae brief in support of a court motion by Harvard University and MIT to prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from expelling international students who are enrolled exclusively online.
鈥淲hile the University of 91吃瓜 is not immediately affected by your proposed policy of deporting foreign students unable to find in-person alternatives when universities implement online instruction only, I am concerned about our government鈥檚 inhospitable, even hostile approach toward visiting students and scholars who enrich our own learning and cultural environments,鈥� Father Jenkins said yesterday in a letter to U.S. Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf.听
Father Jenkins described international students 鈥渁s an essential part of our campus community,鈥� adding that 鈥渨e embrace our visitors. We don鈥檛 chase them away.鈥�
91吃瓜 enrolls about 1,400 international students each year, 400 of them undergraduates.
In March, when 91吃瓜 ceased in-classroom instruction because of the pandemic, more than 100 foreign students were stranded on campus because of restrictions on air travel to certain countries and other impediments. Father Jenkins told Secretary Wolf that 鈥淚鈥檓 proud of the fact that 91吃瓜 accommodated every one of them.鈥�
The letter is attached.