Over 2,200 international students call the University of Delaware their home away from home. They enrich this university with their knowledge, creativity, and drive. UD prides itself on its international student population; it is one of the things that make UD what it is. On its website, the Center for Global Programs and Services (CGPS) claims that UD is ranked first in visa support services, but we at UD have not found this to be the case. This year, the United States Federal Government has repeatedly attacked the rights of its most vulnerable populations. Among these are immigrants and international students.
On April 8, 2024, 8 UD international students had their visas unjustly revoked by the Department of Homeland Security. We demanded that the university stand up for its students and were repeatedly disappointed. Just this month, the Department of Homeland Security proposed new rules for international students that would place severe time limits on student visas. Following an escalating erosion of due process and constitution rights, our demands are the same but now even more pressing. We demand the university:

PROTECT: Provide immediate protections for international students who have their visas revoked, including legal aid and financial support.

1. Support for International Students Facing Status Disruption: The University should maintain enrollment for students impacted by SEVIS terminations and provide academic support for international students in the event of visa revocation, status termination, detention, or deportation, including remote learning accommodations as necessary, to permit their continued degree progress and support future visa reinstatement. The University must also detail concretely, in a consolidated resource, what aid is available resources are offered to students whose visa or SEVIS status is federally terminated (not linked to generic well-being pages).
2. Create a Fund that is Immediately Accessible to Students Facing Status Disruption: The University offers financial support that is trapped behind permits and applications. It is necessary to have funds that are immediately available to students who may not have the time or ability to fill out applications.
Protection of Graduate Student Funding and Roles: For graduate students whose legal presence affects their teaching or research roles, the University should provide institutional support to ensure continuation of their appointments and academic progress, regardless of their geographic location.
3. Provision of Legal Counsel: The University should provide institutional legal support to international students and scholars whose visas are revoked or whose legal status is otherwise imperiled. The University should also commit to providing financial assistance for legal fees.
4. Allow Students to Complete Programs Remotely: In the event a student(s) is forced to self-deport, the University should work with students and create the means for them to finish their degrees or programs remotely.

PROACT: The University must be more proactive in responding to actions by the federal government. This includes setting up the protocols to ensure that ICE deportations do not happen on campus (i.e. commit to not sharing student information with ICE) and creating sanctuary spaces on campus.

1. Ensure UDPD Compliance with the State of Delaware 287(g) Agreement Ban: State legislation has banned Delaware law enforcement agencies from collaborating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement via 287(g) agreements for immigration enforcement. The University must ensure that University Police, following state law, are not collaborating with federal immigration officials. Additionally, University administration must make this non-collaboration abundantly clear in order to build and maintain trust between UDPD and UD students.
2. Non-Compliance with Executive Order 13899, Section 3: The University must commit to not complying with the expanded Executive Order 13899’s directive to monitor and report on international students and faculty.
3. Timely Communication: The University should devote administrative resources to ensure timely, clear, and accurate communication to international scholars, particularly in the event of any change in their legal status. In addition to continued daily and weekend monitoring of SEVIS, CGPS should maintain contact with international students, post-docs, faculty, and staff, including information on status terminations and resources in their newsletter. The University should also inform the community of not only the number of affected scholars, but whether status terminations are related to free speech, so scholars can pursue civil rights counsel in addition to immigration counsel.

RESIST: The University should partner with our peer institutions to resist the current breaches of academic freedom and due process by the federal government. For example, this spring the President's Alliance filed a lawsuit against Marco Rubio to halt these visa revocations.

1. All students have the right to freedom of speech, and the University will commit to protecting this right on campus.
2. Legal Advocacy for Due Process: The University should communicate its willingness to act via legal advocacy or litigation to defend the due process rights of students and scholars facing removal or status termination. The Office of General Counsel must uphold the rights of all students, faculty, and staff and refuse compliance with illegal orders from law enforcement that would violate due process.
3. Commitment to Public Support: The University should commit to adopting language that truly displays advocacy for and protection of the "UD Community," especially in the face of the federal government's fascistic overreach. In choosing to adopt overwhelmingly neutral language in all University communications and optics, UD has created a deeply mistrustful atmosphere that has fundamentally alienated the UD Community, and allowed for hateful speech and values to co-exist with vulnerable populations in the name of "civil discourse" and "neutrality."
4. Join together with other universities: The University should join with peer institutions in organizations such as the Presidents’ Alliance to stand together for academic freedom.
5.Join the Amicus Brief for AAUP v. Rubio: The University, and/or its representatives as appropriate, should publicly join the amicus brief brought by the Presidents’ Alliance in support of AAUP v. Rubio. This should be in addition to the University’s support of legal representation for targeted students. The University should also seek to join coalitions and groups such as the Presidents’ Alliance working on these very issues.

The University of Delaware, in its mission statement, claims to be “an institution engaged in addressing the critical needs of the state, nation, and global community.” The UD community is now at risk, and some of its students now have “critical needs” that must be addressed.