H-1B visa rules: US universities offer legal support to foreign students on visa woes

At Yale, Indian students comprise the second-largest group of foreign students after the Chinese.

MUMBAI: US universities, including Ivy Leaguers Yale and Harvard, have welcomed overseas students amid the rising protectionist din at home, reassuring scholars that their American dreams remain intact despite the regime change in one of the world's oldest democracies.

The American Association of Universities, a group of about 25 institutions that include some Ivy Leaguers, Virginia, and Northwestern, are providing legal support to student-immigrants to protect them against new visa policies being put in place by the Donald Trump administration. Like Silicon Valley firms, these centres of academic excellence are also talking to US Congress deputies about the economic ill-effects of restricting immigration.

"Yale University joined with 25 of the other leading institutions in the US to file a brief in court when the initial immigration ban of January 27 was put forward and we made a very strong argument that it violated the US law," Tamar Szabó Gendler, dean of the faculty of Arts and Sciences at Yale, told ET during an exclusive interaction in Mumbai.

"Since then, whatever new immigration ban has been put, Yale has been at the forefront to articulate what is and isn't legal about them and what is and isn't wise about them. That is because in addition to the question of legality, there is the question of our thriving intellectual culture," said Gendler, who is currently in India’s financial capital.

On January 27, an executive order signed by President Donald Trump restricted the entry of individuals from seven countries into the US: The list has since been pruned to six. While the fiat led to protests and legal injunctions on one hand, policies related to H-1B visa rules have caused anxiety even among a section of the student community that is currently not within the ambit of the ban.

Besides providing legal support to students from countries that have been singled out for immigration restrictions, Yale and its peers are also leading the campaign to reassure students from other countries, such as India, that they should continue to pursue their academic careers in the US. The association is also giving students legal support on their visa status.

"We are an institution that has a great law school and a great understanding of the legal system and we are committed to giving our students all of the legal protections available," said Gendler.

At Yale, Indian students comprise the second-largest group of foreign students after the Chinese.

"Yale has really been committed in reassuring not only our students but also the world that this kind of cross-pollination is essential for solving the problems that are common to all," she added.

For prospective overseas students, the ongoing protectionist talk may dim the US' appeal as a centre of higher learning. For Indians, however, the number of seats available at Yale is far less than the number of applicants.

"We have about 200 students from India in any given year — about 50 undergraduates, 150 graduates and professional students and there are many more students interested than we have place for. So, we cannot imagine it affecting the numbers," Gendler said. But she added: "It is important for us to make clear to students from India, China, Africa, or Europe that Yale’s door remains open."

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