Everybody has faced different challenges during the COVID-19 crisis, but International Students are being excluded from any sort of aid. This petition is to bring awareness and make a change for all the groups of international students that are being affected by this. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Students contributed $45 billion to the U.S in 2018. That is an increase of 5.5%compared to the previous years. Keeping international students in good conditions contributes immensely to the economy. In addition to that, Colleges and Universities all around the country claim to embrace diversity and all the numbers of international students they have. Asking for help is only fair.

Since the pandemic started many international students haven’t been able to go back to their home countries, others are suffering a huge financial impact since businesses being shut down, banks are closed. The crisis is affecting their parents as well, some of them supporting them from home in countries where exchange rates have been devaluating immensely. Although some colleges are aware of the struggles and have contributed and offered helped, unfortunately, the reality is that majority of them have stayed quiet in regard to the situation international students are facing.

In addition to that, unlike other countries, F-1 and DACA students have been excluded from different aid programs and grants that the U.S. government has been giving such as the CARES Act. This has become a major issue considering that International Students pay double and triple the amount of tuition, don’t qualify for many scholarships or grants, Financial aid is a no and student loans are extremely difficult to get. There haven’t been any statements in regard to future aid for Internationals, which makes the future become even more uncertain for most of us.

International Students have lost their jobs, such as everybody else since Colleges and Universities are closed until further notice. On top of that, they are not allowed to work off-campus, which means that any sort of possible income during these difficult times has become almost impossible. New legislations tend to ignore that internationals still have to pay rent, bills, taxes, and tuition inside the U.S. facing the growing possibilities of leaving the U.S. not finishing their degrees. Unable to afford all the expenses necessary to stay.

Graduates are on a limbo since they relied on job sponsorship in order to stay here after graduation and many companies are closed or are laying off employees. Likewise, recently it was announced that the work programs that they follow after graduation (H-1B visa and OTP) are on the verge of being suspended entirely. Plus the likelihood of F-1 visas not being issued for the next semesters. There are international students from all over the world with their acceptance letters for the fall semester in U.S. colleges unable to come, a considerable amount being Chinese students that are suffering the consequences of unjust immigration and racist laws from the government.

This petition has several goals, some of them being:

-Increasing Aid programs for International Students (CARES Act or any different Federal Aid program)

-Changing Legislations for prospective Chinese students that want to pursue a degree in the U.S.

-Decrease the price of Tuition

-Approving Off-campus jobs

-Changing the limit of more than 20 hours of on-campus work

If only one of them changes, it could mean progress and a relief for thousands of students.

You could have an international student as a friend, partner, neighbor, family member, or someone that you interact constantly and you don’t know that is going through this.  Please sign this petition and let government officials and college representatives know that International Students, their families, and friends stand together in order to achieve a fair and more inclusive system.