Dear Matt,
Happy Advocacy Day (week)! On April 2, NAFSA led a full day of in-person meetings on Capitol Hill to convey the message that Congress has a vital role to play in protecting international education programs and advancing policies that are integral to U.S global competitiveness, national security, and workforce development. Nearly 150 attendees from 37 states and Canada participated in 105 meetings, many of them with members of Congress that sit on the committees that influence immigration and education policy.
It was an inspiring and empowering day, where the strength that comes from a unified voice was on full display. See below for how you can add your voice to the “asks” advocates made, which include restoring and sustaining federal investment in international education programs and supporting provisions that help the United States attract and retain global talent.
As is our annual tradition, we also announced at Advocacy Day the 2025 Advocate of the Year: Ethan Edholm from Fordham University in New York. Take some time to learn more about Ethan and his advocacy journey, marked by strong mentorship of his peers and a commitment to advocacy at the state level too. Join us in congratulating Ethan!
On a much more somber note, the number of immigration enforcement actions against international students and scholars in the United States continues to grow. In addition to arrests and detentions without charges, we are seeing visa revocations by the State Department and the termination of SEVIS records by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, a division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
NAFSA released a statement to the media on Monday, and has consulted with major media outlets and higher education reporters who are scrambling to make sense of these unprecedented actions. Stuart Anderson’s article for Forbes and Liam Knox’s piece for Inside Higher Ed are especially helpful breaking down the barrage of actions being taken by the Trump administration that have created an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty for international students. This topic was explored thoroughly in a members-only webinar on April 3.
Additional opportunities for the entire community to engage will be forthcoming. In the meantime, we encourage NAFSA members to visit nafsa.org/visarevocations for the latest updates. Members and nonmembers alike should also visit the NAFSA.Network communities devoted to international student and international scholar issues to share information with their peers and learn from NAFSA’s regulatory practice experts.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Yours in solidarity,
Best,
Erica
Erica Stewart
Senior Director, Advocacy & Strategic Communications
NAFSA: Association of International Educators
