Dear Erica,
The 15-day temporary pause of all State Department grant disbursements expired yesterday, February 27, and yet funds have not been restored. This lack of action keeps venerable programs such as Fulbright, the Gilman Scholarship, IDEAS, and the Critical Language Scholarship, at a complete standstill, leaving Americans stranded around the world and individuals, institutions, and implementing partners in turmoil and financial hardship. Their abrupt suspension casts serious doubt on the survival of these programs.
This is unacceptable and Congress must step in. In close coordination with our coalition partners, we have launched an advocacy campaign urging Congress to use their authority to restore State Department program funding immediately. President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio made a pledge to make “America, safer, stronger, and more prosperous.” Inform Congress that suspending these programs fails to deliver on that promise and urge them to press Secretary Rubio to FUND THEM IMMEDIATELY. Be sure to personalize the message we have prepared with how the loss of these programs is affecting your community.
Your engagement with your elected officials is critical! A recent Washington Post story indicates that a handful of Republican senators are pushing back behind the scenes. Add your voice to our urgent call to action!
The Trump administration’s ongoing scrutiny of federal spending continues with a February 26 executive order that targets "discretionary spending through Federal contracts, grants, loans, and related instruments," including "non-essential" travel to conferences and other purposes. It also orders a review within 30 days of funds disbursed under covered contracts and grants and “to prioritize the review of covered contracts and grants to educational institutions and foreign entities for waste, fraud, and abuse."
NAFSA is also closely tracking a potential change to the Department of Homeland Security’s SEVP program that would eliminate the field representatives’ role and instead reassign the individuals in those positions to ICE enforcement. As NAFSA executive director and CEO said in response, eliminating the field representatives would be detrimental to schools, DSOs, and even SEVP’s own mission. NAFSA’s online International Student Advising Network is a perfect place to share your concerns or insights into this issue.
On February 25, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued new Alien Registration Requirement guidance which could affect young dependents of nonimmigrants in the United States. The guidance includes a new requirement that nonimmigrants turning 14 must register with the U.S. government even if they have previously registered. The rest of the guidance does not impact most nonimmigrants who were 14 years or older when they legally entered the United States as they were automatically registered with the U.S. government when they first arrived as part of the normal processing at a U.S. point of entry. Registration also applies to individuals without legal immigration status. Find more information on NAFSA’s website.
NAFSA and 67 other organizations joined a February 25 letter led by American Council of Education that pushes back on the February 14 “Dear Colleague” letter from the Department of Education that stated “educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students” and “advanced discriminatory policies and practices” and that threatened K-12 and higher education institutions with a loss of federal funding if they do not comply. More information is available on NAFSA’s website.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Thank you.
Best,
Erica
Erica Stewart
Senior Director, Advocacy & Strategic Communications
NAFSA: Association of International Educators
