The International Center, on behalf of the University of Michigan, recently submitted a formal comment letter to the Department of Homeland Security expressing strong opposition to a proposed regulation which would eliminate “duration of status” for F-1 students and J-1 students and scholars, and establish fixed two or four-year periods of admission, which could only be extended by applying to USCIS for an extension of stay.
The comment letter argued that the proposed rule would impose unnecessary burdens on the international student and scholar population, rather than acknowledging their contribution to the U.S. education and research enterprise, would establish fixed admission periods that are not aligned with normal academic program completion times, and would also significantly disrupt the medical specialty and subspecialty training of our foreign national physicians in J-1 immigration status. This letter, as well as the comment letter submitted by President Schlissel and Provost Collins, is available on the regulations.gov website.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) also recently released two regulations, Strengthening the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Classification Program and Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States , that would significantly restrict the availability of the H-1B and related immigration programs by limiting eligibility and increasing the “prevailing wage.
These two regulations have already been challenged in court. U-M will submit formal comments in opposition to both regulations, and has joined Purdue University as well as several other universities and trade organizations as a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the Department of Labor regulation
The International Center will continue to monitor, comment, and advocate when policies are announced that negatively impact the communities U-M enrolls, hosts, or sponsors on student, scholar, or employment-based visas.