Dear Erica,
The pause on all State Department grant program funding continues. As we shared last week, this action paralyzes venerable programs such as Fulbright, the Gilman Scholarship, IDEAS, and the Critical Language Scholarship, leaving Americans stranded around the world and individuals, institutions, and implementing partners in limbo and financial crisis. As NAFSA, the Alliance for International Exchange, and the Forum on Education Abroad said in a statement, this freeze deals a devastating blow to programs that bring tremendous value to U.S. national security and economic strength. Our campaign to urge Congress to intervene continues.
Add your voice and share with your networks!
In other news, USCIS has updated a series of forms, effective immediately, that eliminates the gender identifier option, replacing it with either “female” or “male” sex (as identified at birth) to comply with Executive Order 14168, Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. More information is on NAFSA’s website.
We are also in close communication with our coalition partners on news that an executive order abolishing the U.S. Department of Education may be forthcoming and that a new ban on travel to the United States for citizens of certain countries is imminent. According to the New York Times, the draft list of countries includes many targeted by travel bans during the first Trump administration (Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, etc); new additions could be Afghanistan and Pakistan. We will monitor this situation closely and keep you informed.
On March 3, NAFSA’s CEO’s Fanta Aw led a townhall on the first 40 days of the Trump administration and its impact and implications for international education. NAFSA experts presented on recent executive actions and IDP Education shared survey results revealing recent international student trends and perceptions. Their slides are now available for download.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
As Dr. Aw said at the townhall on Monday, 10,000 fires cannot be put out alone. We are in this together.
Best,
Erica
Erica Stewart
Senior Director, Advocacy & Strategic Communications
NAFSA: Association of International Educators
