‘This policy is cruel’
Healey, students rally vs. ouster of immigrant students
International students in Massachusetts are calling an ICE policy that could force them to leave the country “cruel” and “malicious” as Attorney General Maura Healey jumps on board to sue the Trump administration and shut down the rule.
“This policy is cruel. It is malicious and the effect on human life has been poorly thought out,” said Fara Afify, an immigrant and student at Harvard University, outside the steps of the State House on Monday.
Afify, joined by other students and Healey, rallied against recent guidelines from Immigration and Customs Enforcement that say international students can’t live in the United States and take all of their classes online during the pandemic.
The rally at the State House comes just one day ahead of a hearing for a lawsuit brought by Harvard and MIT that argues ICE issued the policy without offering any justification and without allowing the public to respond.
“Even amid a pandemic and unprecedented global chaos, the Trump administration is somehow capable of continuously finding new ways to terrorize our most vulnerable communities,” said Afify.
Separate from the Harvard lawsuit, Healey, backed by 18 other attorneys general, filed a suit on Monday to stop the federal rule, calling it a “cruel, abrupt, and unlawful action to expel international students amidst the pandemic that has wrought death and disruption across the United States.”
“We’ve got international students living here in Boston, around the state, who are paying rent, who are working, who are consuming or contributing to our economy,” said Healey.
Healey also took aim at President Trump during the rally, saying, “I promise you from now until November, anytime he does something else dumb, stupid, cruel, illegal or unconstitutional, we’ll see him in court.”
The cities of Boston and Los Angeles, along with 24 other cities and towns, also jumped into action and filed an amicus brief on Monday in the Harvard and MIT lawsuit.
It read that the ICE policy, “is likely to send students threatened with removal into the shadows, where public health efforts will not reach them, in the midst of a pandemic.”
Oya Gursoy, an international student from Turkey studying at Harvard said going back to her home country to finish her studies online would be very difficult.
She added, “I don’t think I could ever feel safe here when I know that that something like ICE exists … you’re kind of always in limbo.”
A federal judge in Boston will hear arguments Tuesday in the Harvard and MIT lawsuit. More than 200 universities are backing the legal challenge.
Citing pending litigation, ICE declined to comment.