On July 6th, 2020, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) declared that international students studying in the US at some universities could face deportation if their classroom instruction is entirely online for the fall 2020 semester. ICE's announcement is not only a public health concern as we are in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic, but this puts thousands of students at risk for deportation which will hinder their education and put them at risk for not completing their degrees. 

ICE has been known to generally target the deportation of undocumented immigrants, however now ICE is targeting international students, who have secured proper visas, during a vulnerable time for everyone in the world. 

ICE issued a statement that students will risk deportation if they do not leave on their own and the State Department will suspend the issuance of F-1 and M-1 visas and US Customs & Border Protection will deny entry to the US for international students. 

At Northeastern University, there are 13,909 undergraduate students as reported by US News and 18% of those students as reported by Northeastern University are international students. This means that over 2,500 members of the Northeastern undergraduate community could be as risk for deportation this fall if classes are moved to a fully virtual format due to the pandemic. Even more students are at risk when the university's graduate programs are factored in.

With current uncertainty of how the pandemic will evolve in the coming months, the Northeastern University students call upon Northeastern to declare that our campus be deemed a Sanctuary Campus. We call on Northeastern to sue the Department of Homeland Security. We demand that our university bar the presence of ICE on Northeastern property, hope that our university understands the added pressures and implications of ensuring that fall courses do not become fully virtual,  and that our university prioritizes housing and in-person courses for international students.