<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">Please consider signing the petition: <a href="https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/allow-f-1-students-stay-us-through-fall-semester-if-instruction-online-due-pandemic" class="" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/allow-f-1-students-stay-us-through-fall-semester-if-instruction-online-due-pandemic</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div>It states: <div class=""><div class="field-label-hidden field-name-body field field-type-text-with-summary"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p class="">On
Monday, July 6, 2020, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
announced that International Students in the United States whose schools
have ruled for online-only classes in the Fall 2020 semester must leave
the United States, or may face immigration consequences.</p><p class="">This is counterproductive for the following reasons:<br class="">
- International students contribute ~$41 billion dollars to the US economy every year<br class="">
- US universities and research programs depend on revenue from international students to survive<br class="">
- US universities may be compelled to prematurely open in-person instruction and risk virus transmission<br class="">
- STEM companies thrive and depend on global talent</p><p class="">We request that ICE rescind their decision to force international
students back to their home countries in the midst of a pandemic.</p></div></div></div></div><br class="">Alan<br class=""><div class="">
<br class=""><br class="">Alan D. Grossman<br class="">Professor and Head<br class="">Department of Biology<br class="">Building 68-530<br class="">M.I.T.<br class="">Cambridge, MA 02139<br class=""><br class="">(617) 253-1515<br class=""><a href="mailto:adg@mit.edu" class="">adg@mit.edu</a><br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">
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