NOORANI'S NOTES

 

 

New data from a survey of more than 700 colleges and universities reveal
that the number of new international students in the U.S. plunged by 43%
this fall and overall enrollment of foreign students is down 16%,
Melissa Korn at The Wall Street Journal

reports. The numbers illustrate "just how hard colleges and
universities were hit by the pandemic and a flurry of shifting
directives from the Trump administration."

After tightening the criteria for international students to enter or
stay in the country earlier this year, "[i]n late July, the
administration updated its guidelines, saying that while new
international students couldn't come to the U.S. if their courses were
being taught entirely online, those with at least one in-person class
could be in the U.S., and those already here could remain."

Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, saw the
steep decline coming, saying the numbers are "staggering but,
unfortunately, not surprising. ... Well before the pandemic struck, a
climate of harsh rhetoric on immigration and concrete actions taken by
the Trump administration, such as the travel ban and slower visa
processing times, helped fuel the perception that this country is no
longer a welcoming place for study and research for outstanding students
and scholars from across the globe."

Want to hear Ted talk about these issues with leaders in the higher
education system? He'll be moderating exactly such a conversation in
tomorrow's Leading the Way
session. Today's
conversations include Mexican Ambassador to the United States Martha
Bárcena Coqui, International Rescue Committee CEO David Miliband,
Trinity Forum President Cherie Harder, and Dr. Russell Moore, President
of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist
Convention.

Take a look at today's sizzle reel
(what a
great phrase) for a sneak peak at what's to come, and register for
free
!

Welcome to Tuesday's edition of Noorani's Notes. If you have a story
to share from your own community, please send it to me at
[email protected] . 

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**$8 BILLION**- Contractors in charge of building President Trump's
border wall are moving forward with construction despite the doubt that
this month's election results cast on the project, reports NPR
's
John Burnett. "Currently, 11 different contractors are at work on 27
separate construction contracts ... So far, $8 billion has been spent,
part of the $15 billion that has been set aside for the gargantuan
project - more than the price tag for a nuclear-powered aircraft
carrier." Despite President-elect Joe Biden's promise that "[t]here
will not be another foot of wall constructed" under his administration,
Roberto Lopez, a community organizer with the Texas Civil Rights
Project, said the project continues: "We're still seeing filings. And
the government isn't stopping or slowing. It seems like they're trying
to speed up." Call me a cynic, but it sounds like someone wants to get
paid before the spigot is shut off.

**'CREATIVE RESILIENCY'** - Disproportionately impacted by the
pandemic yet ineligible for federal assistance, many of New York
City's more than half a million undocumented immigrants have become
"ambulantes," or street vendors, in order to survive, Juan Arredondo and
David Gonzalez report in a visual feature for The New York Times
.
"There's no work anywhere," said Gerardo Vital, a Mexican immigrant
living in Jackson Heights, Queens - part of the "epicenter of the
epicenter" of the virus this spring. "When it gets cold, I'll put on a
jacket and wait for the customers to come." The city's policies have
made life even more difficult for these new street vendors: "for
decades, New York has capped the number of citywide street vending
permits - it is currently limited to 2,900 for food and 853 for
vendors of general merchandise - creating a black market and making
vendors vulnerable to high fines." Of the fight to survive, Alyshia
Gálvez, founding director of Lehman College's Jaime Lucero Mexican
Studies Institute, said that "[t]his is the kind of creative resiliency
that immigrant communities have always engaged in."

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**'CARRY THE LIGHT'**- Sakina Halal Grill, a Pakistani
immigrant-owned restaurant in Washington, D.C. famous for feeding
thousands of poor and homeless people for years, is now asking for the
public's help to stay afloat, Caroline Patrickis reports for WJLA
.
"Before COVID-19 hit, we were feeding 70 to 80 people free meals a day,"
said Kazi Mannan, who owns the restaurant. But without customers during
the pandemic, Mannan has cut his 15-person staff down to just two and
has stopped serving free meals. "I can't feed anybody because I
can't feed myself in this situation," he said. "Many restaurants are
gone forever and right now it's more important that we can continue the
mission and carry the light." You can learn more about, and support,
Mannan and his mission at the restaurant's GoFundMe
.

**MUDDLED TRANSITION** - Employees at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS) have been instructed not to contact President-elect Joe
Biden's transition team until an administration official "deems the
[election] results 'clear.'" An anonymous USCIS employee told
BuzzFeed News
,
as reported by Hamed Aleaziz: "It's disturbing and disheartening that
the agency is not permitting staff to aid the Biden transition team to
ensure a smooth transfer. These delays could hamper the new
administration's ability to hit the ground running on important issues
facing the agency and our country." The directive comes as the incoming
Biden administration mulls over

its initial immigration and citizenship plans, which will likely attempt
to undo much of President Trump's actions. We've laid out what we
think his plans should entail in our Immigration Priorities for a Biden
Administration
.

Thanks for reading,

Ali

 

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