STATEMENT:

Minnesota Youth Collective is dedicated to building the power of young people in order to better the lives of all Minnesotans. In light of the recent policy changes made by ICE and in keeping with our mission, we wanted to share a statement condemning this action and calling for immediate action from university administrators.

On Monday July 6, 2020 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a policy change to the Student & Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) that leaves many international and non-citizen students vulnerable. Those who are on non-immigrant F1 and M1 visas are especially at risk. According to the policy change, students attending academic institutions adopting fully online course models this upcoming fall must depart the country and are subject to removal proceedings should they remain. Roughly 1.5 million students are affected by this change in policy and must now make the difficult choice of abandoning their studies or facing the consequences of an arbitrary change.

The Campus Program team at Minnesota Youth Collective condemns ICE and this policy change rooted in racism and xenophobia. This order, at the height of a global pandemic, is a concentrated effort by ICE to enact violence toward young people. This change is meant to disrupt their lives; students’ financial stability, health, and academic pursuits will all be put at risk. Threatening thousands of international students with the possibility of deportation is an egregious abuse of power and reinforces the systemic barriers to higher education. As an organization dedicated to empowering young people, Minnesota Youth Collective is taking this issue very seriously and is committed to lending capacity in support of all the young people affected by this policy.  

Protecting the wellbeing of these students should be the top priority for every administrator across higher education institutions within the state of Minnesota. Support in the form of statements that reiterate a basic set of values and make empty promises to the student body is not enough. Institutions must take necessary, substantive actions to ensure that these students do not face legal consequences of any sort. Failure to stand in solidarity with students who are at risk of being barred from pursuing higher education is complicity in ICE’s reckless display of violence. Failure to offer protections to these students while continuing to profit off students making full tuition payments for online classes and no access to campus resources while exploiting them as a workforce is institutional violence and is equally condemned by MNYC. Below is a list of actions we demand higher education institutions in the state of Minnesota to take to mitigate the effects of this policy:

1. Implement a hybrid educational setting for the upcoming school year so international students may remain in the country while attending their respective universities.
   1. A mixture of online and in person classes. Per ICE policy, universities who adopt a hybrid educational setting may allow international students to take more than one class (3 credit hours) online.
2. Along with a hybrid educational setting, universities must create a 1-credit in-person class for international students, following the lead of NYU, Columbia, and Berkley.
3. Declare campuses as sanctuary campuses and provide the necessary shelter and protection for students seeking legal help regarding the policy change.
   1. This includes but is not limited to:
      • Preventing campus police from enforcing the policy
      • Barring ICE from entering campuses
      • Not sharing student information with ICE
      • Providing substantial legal support for students who seek it
4. Hold university staff and faculty accountable to meeting all the educational needs of students affected by this policy.
   1. This includes but is not limited to:
      • Changes in departmental policies that allow flexibility with course formats for international students   
      • Offering extensions of any kind to students who are taking classes and seeking legal help at the same time
      • Expanding and extending all available resources to ensure that international students can safely continue their academic pursuits
5. Increasing the capacity of international student services on campus to meet the full needs of all students affected by this policy.

We must not let ICE and similar entities use the global pandemic as a tool to oppress young people. This list of demands only scratches the surface of actions we must collectively take in order to ensure that students—domestic, international, and undocumented—have access to and can freely pursue higher education. It starts by providing them with the necessary protections now and continues by working toward long term solutions that ensure their safety and wellbeing. Now, more than ever, we have to stand in solidarity with young people and empower them to make lasting change. 

—MNYC Campus Team and the staff of the Minnesota Youth Collective

FOR WAYS TO TAKE ACTION, VISIT HTTPS://BIT.LY/MNYC_ICE