Northwestern Joins Amicus Brief to Fight New ICE Guidance

Dear members of the Northwestern community,

I am horrified by the federal guidelines issued this week by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which threaten to revoke the visa status of international students who take all-remote classes this fall.

As Northwestern has been taking steps toward a safe, phased return to campus for the Fall Quarter, we have already been planning to institute a hybrid model of remote and in-person courses. I therefore expect that our international student community will be largely unaffected by these capricious and indefensible directives.

Whether or not our students are impacted directly, we will work tirelessly with our academic peers to ensure no students anywhere are affected.

We have joined an amicus brief supporting a lawsuit filed this morning by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that seeks to keep the new directives from going into effect.

Northwestern’s overriding priority, since the beginning of this global health emergency, has been to ensure the safety of all our students and enable them to remain on course toward completion of their degrees.

I want every one of our international students to know that your University community stands beside you in this painful moment. You are not alone. We will support you in the days ahead.

Sincerely,
Morton Schapiro

President and Professor