Letter to the Editor

Editor,

What’s scarier than the first day of school?... getting deported amidst your studies.

International students make America great. Currently, #StudentBan is currently trending because the Student Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) declared that international students with F-1 and M-1 visas must return to their home countries this fall unless they risk in-person classes. Universities like Harvard and Yale have already adopted plans for only virtual teaching in the fall. Texas State is still planning for in-person teaching, but there are nearly two months before the fall semester and as we are all fully aware, a lot can happen in two months. This issue hits close to home for me. One of my closest friends is a graduate student at Texas State and she could get sent home this fall if the SEVP order is carried out. She also has health issues that put her in a higher risk category for COVID-19 and increase the dangers of in-person contact. Further, the border to her home country is currently closed making this whole situation more stressful, scary and uncertain. Where would she go? This is a question several international graduate students are asking in the face of this horrendous proposition. My friend, like thousands of other international grad students, is conducting research that would disappear if she was forced to leave. This isn’t fair to her, the thousands of impacted students, nor is it fair to me and my fellow US citizens. One of these students could be working on a cure to the next pandemic or discovering how to mitigate the impacts of climate change. We need these students in the United States and they deserve to be here. International students pay full price to attend American Universities, which benefits the U.S. economy by roughly $45 billion. They should be offered silver platters rather than a death sentence to get an education in this country.

Matthew Parker San Marcos

San Marcos