Supporting our international students

Dear Beach Family,

Earlier this week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that international students will not be allowed to remain in the United States if they are receiving only online or remote instruction. Since March, Cal State Long Beach has been delivering instruction through alternative means, and our plan is to continue to do so for most of our students throughout the first semester of the 2020-21 academic year.

We have adopted this instructional mode to protect the health and safety of our campus community. The ICE regulation means that our international students are now faced with having to register for an in-person class or they will be forced to leave the United States. ICE has indicated that students who do not comply with this new policy are subject to deportation.

We, and many other educators in California and the nation, are outraged with this decision. The order was unexpected and assumes that the pandemic is over.  It is a cruel regulation to carry out a political agenda to force the opening of educational organizations with total disregard for the health and safety of on- and off-campus communities.

The California State University System, as well as other institutions, are now in the process of challenging this improper and illegitimate order.  In the meantime, we are also working with every one of our 1201 international students to assist each to comply with the regulation. Our goal is to show that the ICE edict is, at least, procedurally illegitimate, but our first concern is with the well-being and academic progress of our international students.

Cal State Long Beach has a long and proud history of educating people from all around the world. The presence of international students on our campus – not to mention among our alumni – has made The Beach a better place to learn, teach, study and live. Many of our international students come to us as the result of a life of planning and hard work. They enrich us with their presence and carry Beach Pride around the globe when they graduate.

When we say, “we are OneBeach,” that includes everyone at The Beach. In fighting the ICE regulation, while ensuring our international students can stay in the U.S. to study if they wish, we are standing for what is right.

Sincerely,

Jane Close Conoley, Ph.D.
President

Brian Jersky, Ph.D.
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs