ACS joins Societies to request support for Afghan Scholars and Students

September 23, 2021

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader McCarthy, Majority Leader Schumer, and Minority Leader McConnell:

On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we write to ask for support and legislation to assist students and scholars who have been displaced by the current crisis in Afghanistan. While we and our institutions continue to support efforts to safely evacuate Afghan students and scholars who face danger under the Taliban, we are also starting to discuss how to offer longer-term assistance for those displaced by the crisis.

Bright and talented students and scholars, including many women, who were engaged in academic pursuits before the Taliban retook Afghanistan now face a variety of challenges. Some who were already in the United States are now concerned about how to continue to pay for or begin an education at a U.S. institution of higher education. Others are located in countries outside of Afghanistan and hope to study in the United States, while still others remain in Afghanistan and seek to continue or start their education in the United States.

Many of our institutions want to help and are offering support to those seeking to continue their education and begin their new lives. This includes raising scholarship funds for displaced students, placing scholars in U.S. graduate programs, and developing creative options for students seeking to transfer credits from Afghanistan institutions who may have destroyed their records.

We appreciate and are grateful that the House recently passed legislation to provide funding for Afghan refugees. We encourage Congress to provide additional support for displaced students and scholars seeking to study and continue their academic careers in the United States. Below are some specific ways Congress could support Afghan scholars and students in future legislation:

• Provide additional USAID funds to support Afghans who left Afghanistan on P-2 status and are currently in third countries waiting to travel to the United States. Some displaced scholars previously on USAID grants in Afghanistan are now in third countries and are unable to receive support from their USAID grant as funding was tied to work in Afghanistan.
• Require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to designate Afghanistan for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or Deferred Enforced Departure (DED), which would allow those entering the United States on various visa programs to remain safe from deportation as they make life-altering decisions.
• Remove the non-immigrant intent for F-1, M-1, and J-1 student and scholar visa programs for Afghan students. We have already heard reports of students with Afghan citizenship applying to study in the United States from third countries being denied a student visa because they cannot demonstrate intent to return to Afghanistan after their program of study. If non-immigrant intent cannot be removed, the requirement should be satisfied by an intent to return when conditions in Afghanistan are normalized or to return to a third country.
• Require U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to waive the current rules around off-campus work for Afghanistan student visa holders by announcing special student relief for Afghan students in F and J status. Regulations allow DHS and the Department of State (DOS) to suspend or alter rules regarding duration of status, full course of study, and employment eligibility for specific groups of F-1 and J-1 students from parts of the world that are experiencing emergent circumstances.
• Any supplemental bills for Afghanistan should provide additional funding to USCIS and DOS to process the influx of Afghan visas and green card applications.
• Require DHS and DOS to consider all possible avenues of relief for Afghan nationals to remain in the United States to study, conduct research, and contribute to U.S. higher education as professors, faculty, and staff.

We look forward to working as closely as possible with the Administration and Congress to support displaced Afghans who wish to join the millions of international students and scholars who have contributed to the cultural and intellectual vibrancy of our campuses and to our national economic prosperity.

Sincerely,

Ted Mitchell
President