How will new ICE guidelines affect Cal Poly, Cuesta College international students?
Most colleges and universities are planning to provide mostly online classes in the fall due to COVID-19 — but U.S. immigration officials say online classes won’t be an option for international students if they want to stay in the United States.
Under new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) guidelines announced Monday, students with academic and vocational visas will need to take at least one in-person class if their college is offering them, transfer to a college that is offering in-person classes or leave the country.
When fifth-year Cal Poly architecture student Shoug Albahar saw a headline about the new ICE rules, she said, she was shocked.
“I was like, ‘There’s no way this is real,’ ” Albahar said.
Albahar, who is from Kuwait City, Kuwait, came to the United States to attend Cal Poly’s renowned architecture program on a scholarship.
Before coming to San Luis Obispo, she attended a bilingual school that was geared heavily toward studying abroad, something two of her older siblings had done as well.
When Albahar found out about the new policy, she said she immediately called her friend Violeta Smart, a fifth-year Cal Poly student from Barlioche, Argentina.
Smart said she’s feeling for the first time what it is like to have an uncertain status in a country she calls home.
“There is no guarantee,” Smart said. “I came to a country where everyone told me ‘You can trust the system, things work, the law will protect you,’ and then suddenly, when I really need a system that protects me, suddenly there’s nothing.”
Smart said she hadn’t planned on coming to the United States for college until she met a philanthropist that knew her family and agreed to sponsor her education. It was “a leap of faith,” but one that she and her parents took so that she could have better educational opportunities, she said.
“I took the SAT (and) studied by myself. It was probably one of the hardest things I’ve done,” Smart said. “It was really hard to understand the American system but my parents were always encouraging.”
What the ICE guidelines mean for Cal Poly international students
Now, Cal Poly and the California State University system are working together to discuss what the new ICE directive means for international students in San Luis Obispo and across California.
According to California State University director of public affairs Toni Molle, there are more than 11,300 international students across the CSU system’s 23 campuses. More than 300 of those international students attend Cal Poly, according to university spokesperson Matt Lazier.
“The new policy guidance from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could immediately lead to slowing or even worse, halting of more than 11,300 students’ paths to achieving their higher education goals and potential contributions to our communities and economy,” Molle wrote in a statement to The Tribune.
Molle said the Chancellor’s Office is working with individual campuses to review online and in-person courses.
Cal Poly spokesman Matt Lazier said Wednesday that the university is working with the CSU about exactly how new ICE guidelines may impact its students.
“I can tell you that our International Center has been working diligently to keep Cal Poly students — both international students and students who have been planning to study abroad — up to date on evolving policies and procedures related to COVID-19 and how they are impacting our campus,” Lazier wrote in an email to The Tribune.
Cal Poly has been planning to hold some labs, about 15% of its classes, in person in the fall.
According to an email sent by the Cal Poly International Center, international students will be required to take one of the limited in-person classes and enroll as full-time students.
Lazier said international students who plan on staying in the U.S. will be “urged to work with their academic advising centers to identify in-person courses in which to enroll.”
The International Center will also provide students with visa information and host virtual meetings for students to have their questions answered, according to Lazier.
Albahar said that, while she is frustrated with the situation, she is grateful that Cal Poly is offering some in-person classes.
However, she said it is unfair to place a segment of the population at risk of coronavirus.
When asked if it would be safe for students to return to campus during the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department said that decision is up to individual universities.
“The decision of whether or not it is safe for students to return to classes is being made district by district, state by state, county by county and even institution by institution,” county public health department spokesperson Michelle Shoresman wrote in an email to The Tribune. “Schools of all types are trying to determine what safety measures they can implement to make it safe for students to return to school.”
After hearing about the ICE guidelines, Smart said she reached out to the associate dean of Cal Poly’s College of Architecture and Engineering with a few ideas as to how to help international students in this time.
She said the associate dean assured her that the college is planning ways to keep students safe and in the United States.
However, according to the International Center email, if Cal Poly moves entirely online for public safety reasons related to COVID-19, international students will no longer be allowed to stay in the United States.
That scenario poses a number of problems, Smart and Albahar both said.
Smart said one of her concerns would be access to the internet and materials needed for her architecture classes.
“Architecture is a very hands-on major,” Smart said, adding that in her hometown “it’s hard to find cardboard. We don’t have a Michael’s or an ACE Hardware.”
After speaking with international students from India and Russia, Smart and Albahar said several are concerned that if they return to their home countries, they will not be able to come back to the United States to complete college because many international borders are closed due to the pandemic.
Some students told Smart and Albahar they were worried they would not be allowed back into their country because of travel restrictions.
They also spoke to several students from Vietnam and South Korea who said they are worried about the health implications of international travel amid the coronavirus pandemic and the risks to them and their families.
Smart added that a large source of concern for many international students is time zone differences. While Bariloche has a four-hour time difference from California, Kuwait City is 10 hours ahead of the Central Coast.
Albahar said she’s also worried about mental health.
“I’ve established a life here,” Albahar said. “I have friends, I have chosen family in this country and going home I’d be reverting back to my family which is an extremely different community than I have here.”
But she and Smart are hopeful that Cal Poly will have a plan.
“I am very confident that (the College of Architecture) would do everything in their power to help us so I think that I’m not that worried about my situation,” Smart said. “It made me think a lot about other international students in conservative states that won’t find support and what that means right now.”
How new rules affect Cuesta College students
Cuesta College officials are also working toward a best course of action since the recent ICE guidelines were announced, Ritchie Bermudez, the community college’s spokesman.
“Our international students are an integral part of the Cuesta College campus community,” Bermudez said. “While the recent ICE guidelines have caused uncertainty, we are working diligently with our international program office to get in touch directly with our international students and determine the best course of action to provide support and assistance.”
Bermudez noted that Cuesta College announced a hybrid model of classes for the fall 2020 semester, offering lecture classes online and providing in-person instruction on campus for difficult-to-convert labs, activities, and performance courses with strict hygiene and safety protocols. The school has campuses in Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo.
International students taking one or more face-to-face courses will necessarily be local, Bermudez said.
As of Tuesday, Cuesta College had 30 international students admitted for fall 2020 and eight applications in progress.
Since fall 2017, 78 students have participated in Cuesta College’s international program, the administration reported.
Can international athletes stay in SLO?
Don Oberhelman, Cal Poly’s athletic director, said Tuesday that the university is still sorting through the details of ICE’s new policy, saying “we are still sorting through all this information.“
“Every university in the country will be dealing with this right alongside us as we await guidance and further information,” Oberhelman said. “As of right now, I can’t say whether this will impact our student-athletes or not, but we are hopeful that our international student-athletes will be able continue their studies in San Luis Obispo should they choose to do so.”
Because Cal Poly is offering some of its classes in person as well as online, the university could navigate enrollment differently than a university that only offers only instruction, Oberhelman said.
“Cal Poly offering opportunities for in-person classes could certainly help the cause,” Oberhelman said.
Cuesta College officials said that the decision around student-athletes will be determined after the California Community College Athletic Association meets on July 17 to discuss the next steps for sports in the 2020-21 academic year.
“International students taking one or more face-to-face courses will necessarily be local, including our student-athletes,” Bermudez said.
Cal Poly had 23 international student-athletes on 2019-2020 rosters, according to the university’s athletic department.
Men’s tennis and men’s soccer led the way with five international students each, followed by women’s basketball with four.
In 2019, Cuesta College had 11 international student-athletes, including seven in men’s basketball and one each in the following sports: water polo/swimming, baseball, women’s soccer and men’s cross country.
In the 2020-2021 school year, Cuesta College is enrolling 12 international student-athletes, including seven in men’s basketball, three in men’s water polo/swimming and two in baseball.
This story was originally published July 8, 2020 at 1:35 PM.
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