We value our international community

Written by Sara Pozzi, director of diversity, equity and inclusion, and Jeanne Pearl Murabito, executive director of the office of student affairs

---

As leaders who have worked with, studied with and supported students and peers from around the globe, we value the expertise that our international researchers bring to Michigan Engineering. Our engineering solutions are enriched by a wide range of cultural knowledge. We oppose new restrictions being placed on our international learners, which we view as undermining both our national character and our capacity for future innovation and job creation. 

On May 29, President Trump signed a proclamation suspending the entry of Chinese graduate students and postdoctoral researchers using F and J visas into the U.S. This was followed on June 22 with the announcement of a freeze on foreign worker visas, including the H-1B visas that many of our faculty members rely on when becoming professors at the College. Most recently, on July 6, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), announced that students taking only online courses could be deported.

At the University of Michigan, we add our voice to many across the country expressing our strong disagreement with these policies. Our nation is built on immigration and on the creativity that comes from a diversity of perspectives. Recent research has shown that the most impactful research includes authors from multiple ethnic groups, reinforcing with statistics what we know through practice. We are working together with other universities across the nation to bring our collective concern to the attention of policymakers. 

If you are affected by these immigration restrictions, there are resources to help: 

• The International Center is the University’s central resource for any international students, faculty and staff. 
• New undergraduate students can contact the College’s Office of Student Affairs with questions and concerns. 
• New graduate students can reach out to the College’s Associate Dean for Graduate and Professional Education, the Rackham Graduate School, or your admitting academic department. 
• Continuing students may contact both their department and the International Center with any questions or issues. 
• If you are a postdoctoral researcher or professor, please contact your host department and the International Center. 

It is important for all of these contacts to have open communication lines with you and each other, so they can coordinate information in order to effectively assist you.

We hope that national policy will soon reflect the value that our international students and researchers bring to American science, technology and culture. Until then, please know that we are fighting for you.

---