Chancellor Syverud signs letter opposing federal immigration policies

Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud signed a letter calling on New York’s congressional delegation to monitor Trump administration policies affecting international students and faculty.

Almost 60 leaders of New York universities signed the Oct. 10 letter, including presidents of Cornell University, Ithaca College and Le Moyne College. The administrators cite visa processing delays and increased requests for evidence as deterrents for students and job applicants.

“The bottom line is that current policies have made it harder for foreign students to study and work in the U.S., resulting in many international students choosing to study in other countries,” the letter reads.

International students currently comprise 21% of Syracuse University’s total enrollment and represent 42% of the graduate student body, according to SU’s Fall 2019 Census. SU’s international student enrollment has grown slightly in recent years despite a nationwide decline.

The U.S. State Department is responsible for processing student visas. The number of visa applications delayed for additional security review has increased in recent years, according to the letter.

The State Department advises applicants who need more screening to wait 180 days after their interview to ask about their visa status. The previous waiting period was about 45 days. At SU, semesters span five months, meaning some students would have to defer enrollment to the following semester under the current waiting period.

An increase in “Requests for Evidence” from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has also delayed visa H1-B applications for highly skilled foreign workers, according to the letter. These evidence requests push back visa issuances and “increase legal costs for universities and businesses,” the letter claims.

President Donald Trump’s 2017 travel ban and efforts to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program have also impacted “the quality of the students and scholars” at New York state universities, the letter claims. Syverud has spoken out against efforts to eliminate DACA, and formed an ad hoc committee to help students affected by the shift in policy.

International students contribute $5 billion to the New York state economy and represent 58,000 jobs, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

In the letter, university leaders also highlight the contributions of foreign-born researchers. In 2016, the three winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics were faculty at U.S. universities who were born outside the country.

“The increasing backlog in the U.S. immigration system has resulted in some of our schools experiencing considerable declines in foreign student enrollment, and of course, has raised concerns about the future for all of us,” the letter reads.