When Music freshman Jung-Min Lee bought her plane ticket from South Korea to the United States before Fall Quarter, she purchased a round-trip fare, expecting to travel back home during Winter Break.
But that was before Sept. 11.
Now, Lee and other international students at Northwestern are facing a precarious choice: risk a trip back home for the holidays despite heightened security and the debate about limiting visa renewals, or play it safe and stay in Evanston.
Ravi Shankar, director of NU’s International Office, said he is advising students to be cautious if they choose to travel home.
“There’s a general concern among the international students here,” Shankar said. “If they have a valid visa, they shouldn’t have a problem getting back into the country. But we have to make sure students realize what they are up to and weigh the risks of traveling home.”
Because Korea isn’t involved in the current conflict and Lee has her papers and visa in order, she decided she will fly home for the holidays. But before receiving up-to-date information from the International Office, she was concerned that she wouldn’t be able to return to Korea.
“I got e-mails saying it was dangerous to go back, and I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “I asked a lot of people and they said if you have the correct documents, it should be fine. But if I had concerns about my visa, I wouldn’t go back.”
The push for tighter immigration controls in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has renewed government focus on the 565,000 international students who attend about 4,000 U.S. colleges and universities, according to the latest statistics from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. In the past decade, 16,000 students from countries that sponsor terrorism have studied in the United States.
Because of the spotlight on foreign students, Shankar is urging NU international students who are traveling home, especially to the Middle East and Central Asia, to bring proof they attend the school, such as documentation of enrollment, a valid passport and even letters of funding if they are at NU through a sponsorship.
But if a visa has expired, Shankar recommends that the student stay in the United States rather than face delays in applying for a new one in the home country.
“If a student’s visa has expired, our advice is they should stay here and not travel,” he said. “Getting a visa now can become a daunting task. There will be delays, and we can’t guarantee the student would be able to get back by the time class starts on January 7.”
University President Henry Bienen said in a Nov. 15 interview that the university has no latitude in helping international students return to the country.
“We’re not going to have any discretion,” Bienen said. “We don’t control what U.S. consulates abroad do. There are real security questions out there and universities cannot be in the position of thinking there aren’t real concerns. While I understand and share the issues international students are concerned about, they will have to make up their own minds on whether they feel they’ll be able to re-enter the country.”
Three weeks ago, U.S. embassies decided to delay the visa process for anyone ages 16 to 45 from a Muslim nation. Shankar said the wait for visa renewals from those countries now could take an additional 20 days.
But the new laws aren’t stopping McCormick sophomore Jawdat Sha’sha’a from going home to Jordan, despite initial reservations about traveling.
“At the beginning I decided not to go home, but honestly, it won’t be a break without going back, so I feel its worth the risk,” Sha’sha’a said. “But because I look like the typical Arab, I’m expecting a lot of trouble coming back.”
Calling the delayed visa process for Muslims “pure racial profiling,” Sha’sha’a said he has no idea how he’ll continue his education if he isn’t allowed back into the United States.
“My family is really scared about me leaving to come home, but it’s my decision,” he said. “I try not think about what will happen if I can’t get back in.”
Weinberg junior Ali Cebi, who is from Turkey, agreed with Sha’sha’a that it is important to spend the holidays at home.
“All of my friends from Turkey are also going back; we all always go back for Christmas,” he said. “It is a long time and we want to spend it at home.”
