ICE Barrier

Note that the item below, while referring to UC-Berkeley, presumably would apply to all UC campuses.

From the Daily Californian: Campus international undergraduate students can no longer receive academic credit for most internships completed in study abroad programs, including the University of California Washington Center program, or UCDC. This comes as a response to two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement guidance memos sent to campus in August. The federal guidance memos stated that international students can only use internship experience to receive academic credit if it is integral to the completion of their degree, and is “directly related to the student’s major area of study.” If campus does not ensure this requirement is followed, it may lose its ability to enroll international students.

As a result, campus indefinitely paused the processing of applications for Course Credit Curricular Practical Training, or CPT, a program that allows international students to receive credits toward their degree when pursuing internships and work experience. “We will need more time to consult with legal counsel, and to develop new processes that align with ICE requirements,” said Berkeley International Office Director Ivor Emmanuel.

Under Department of Homeland Security standards, international students living in the United States through an F-1 visa are required to enroll in a full-time course load to keep their visa status, unless exempted by special circumstances. According to Emmanuel, international students who had planned to use current internships for academic credit still have to meet this requirement and “will have to identify alternate courses.” ...

Full story at https://www.dailycal.org/news/campus/administration/international-students-interning-abroad-lose-course-credit-due-to-ice-warning/article_ffbcd825-4248-4aec-8b60-c5319d9d713c.html.

Less than meets the eye - Part 2

Undoubtedly, there will be public comment on AB 713 now on the governor's desk for signature or veto at the September Regents meeting (unless he vetoes it before the meeting). As we have noted previously (see Aug. 13 on this blog), the bill actually leaves the decision on whether UC can hire undocumented students to the Regents. It is a mandate for CSU and the community colleges but permissive for UC. 

From CalMatters: Is this the year that Gov. Gavin Newsom allows students without legal status to legally work at California’s public colleges and universities? A state bill with wide support from Democrats but opposed by Republicans seeks to do just that by adopting an untested legal theory that argues a 1980s federal law banning employment for people without legal status doesn’t apply to state agencies. But university leaders and Newsom worry that acting on the theory could put the state on another collision course with the Trump administration.

The bill easily cleared the Legislature Friday, including a yes vote from one Republican. The bill now heads to Newsom’s desk. Assembly Bill 713 by Assemblymember José Luis Solache, a Democrat from Lakewood, is seemingly straightforward: The University of California, California State University and community colleges cannot disqualify students without legal status from campus employment. If it becomes law, it would kick in Jan. 6...

Full story at https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2026/08/students-without-legal-status-california/.

===

Bill at https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB713/id/3191073. "This article shall apply to the University of California, unless it is found to be inapplicable to the university, then, consistent with Section 67400, this article shall apply to the university only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, make it applicable."

Straws in the Wind - Part 456

From the Columbia Daily Spectator: Barnard quietly paused approvals this month for Curricular Practical Training, a program many international students rely on for internship eligibility... The pause comes after the federal government sent a pair of memos to Barnard and other colleges and universities on Aug. 12 and 24 threatening to cut off international student enrollment if the schools do not adopt stricter rules for approving international students’ work authorizations. The pause, which other institutions have adopted amid the federal government’s threat, raises concerns of international students losing work opportunities in an increasingly difficult job market.

All pending and new CPT approvals are on hold as Barnard reviews and updates its institutional protocols, Joanna Kang, associate director of Barnard’s International Student Services office wrote in the email to [an] international student. The student shared a portion of the email but declined to share its full text. A Barnard spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the pause...

Full story at https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2026/08/29/barnard-quietly-pauses-international-student-internship-approvals-following-federal-memos/.

Admissions

From the California Post: A father in Palo Alto, California, is declaring a victory in court after a federal judge allowed a civil rights lawsuit alleging anti-Asian bias in college admissions to move forward. Nan Zhong and his son, Stanley Zhong, filed federal lawsuits against several elite institutions, including the University of California system, the University of Washington, the University of Michigan and Cornell University. The complaints allege the universities engaged in “racially discriminatory admissions practices that disadvantage highly qualified Asian-American applicants.”

One of their cases will now proceed in part against the University of Washington after a federal judge granted the university defendants’ motion to dismiss in part and denied it in part...

A 2023 graduate of Gunn High School in Palo Alto, Stanley scored a 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT (99th percentile), held a 4.42 weighted GPA, ranked in the top 9% of his graduating class and had launched a free e-signing startup featured by Amazon Web Services. Shortly after the college rejections, Google hired Stanley as a full-time software engineer in a position that his family’s court filing says typically requires a Ph.D. or equivalent practical experience...

Spokespersons for the University of California system have previously denied the allegations, maintaining that its admissions policies strictly comply with state and federal laws prohibiting race-conscious decisions...

Full story at https://nypost.com/2026/08/30/us-news/california-student-stanley-zhong-gets-legal-win-in-racial-discrimination-against-colleges/.

Note: It is unclear what the status of the UC element in the lawsuit is. But the point of the suit seems to be to open the door to "discovery" of internal documents pertaining to admissions. Such discovery will now go forward with regard to the U of Washington. For UC, it touches on the SAT issue and other admissions matters currently under review.

Straws in the Wind - Part 453

From Inside Higher Ed: Twenty-three percent fewer student visas were issued in 2025 compared to the previous year, according to newly released Department of State figures. Some countries, like Iran, Myanmar and Venezuela, saw declines over 70 percent from year to year. India, the second-largest supplier of international students to the U.S. in 2024, also experienced a precipitous 56.6 percent drop. An Inside Higher Ed analysis of the data shows that visa issuances were essentially in line with the previous year for the first several months of 2025 but dropped in May—the same month President Donald Trump paused all student visa interviews to implement new social media screenings for those applicants. The number of student visas issued remained below 2024 levels for the remainder of the year.

The largest decrease was among F-1 visa holders, who are in the U.S. seeking a degree and who are at the center of concerns about how the Trump administration's international student policies will impact enrollments; those visas declined by 33.4 percent, versus 9.9 percent for J-1 and 6.7 percent for M-1 visas. (J-1 visas are for students and scholars in certain exchange programs, including the Fulbright program, while M-1 visas are for students in nondegree or vocational training.) ...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/global/international-students-us/2026/08/26/new-student-visas-dropped-23-2025.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 194

From the Harvard Crimson: The Department of Justice appealed the dismissal of its antisemitism lawsuit against Harvard... seeking to revive a sweeping case accusing the University of violating federal civil rights law in its treatment of Jewish and Israeli students. The government filed a notice Thursday afternoon asking the First Circuit to review U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns’ August 13 decision granting Harvard’s motion to dismiss the case. The appeal comes two weeks after Stearns dealt a major blow to one of the Trump administration’s most aggressive legal efforts against Harvard, finding that the incidents cited by the government were “too isolated and episodic” to prove an ongoing violation of Title VI...

Stearns left open the possibility that should the government be able to present compelling instances of ongoing noncompliance, their case might be seen in a different light. And he did not quarrel with the government’s assumption that it could recuperate previously awarded funds under the Title VI or breach of contract arguments outlined in the original complaint...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/8/28/doj-harvard-antisemitism-appeal/.

Supreme Court Appeal

From E&E News/Politico: The Trump administration this week asked the nation’s highest bench to overturn a lower court ruling that said agencies’ termination of grants because they are “DEI” violated the First Amendment. The Constitution’s protections against free speech generally prohibit the government from showing “viewpoint discrimination.” This case the administration has presented to the Supreme Court could determine whether that includes terminating grants a new administration does not like, which President Donald Trump directed en masse after returning to power last year.

The petition was filed by several University of California researchers whose grants from EPA, the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities were terminated, some allegedly because of a nexus to diversity, equity or inclusion, known as DEI.

Source: https://www.eenews.net/articles/trump-asks-supreme-court-to-let-him-terminate-dei-research-grants/.

The Halt

From the Daily Bruin: UCLA paused some international students’ work authorizations after it received an Aug. 12 memo from United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a Dashew Center spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. Universities suspected of using curricular practical training programs to create employment for international students instead of reasons required for academic studies could lose their certification to enroll exchange and international students, the memo stated. CPT authorizations allow eligible students on F-1 visas to receive temporary authorization to work in a field related to their degree while attending school. 

ICE sent the memo to all universities certified to have international and exchange students through the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, an agency under ICE that tracks international students’ records. SEVP saw a rise in CPT authorizations that “do not meet regulatory requirements,” according to the memo. UCLA plans to review the federal changes and is awaiting guidance from the UC, the Dashew Center spokesperson said in an emailed statement...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2026/08/25/ucla-pauses-some-international-students-work-authorizations-after-ice-memo.

Straws in the Wind - Part 448

From Inside Higher Ed: International student applications to American colleges dropped by 10 percent in the most recent application cycle—a decrease of roughly 16,000 students—according to... Common App... The figures show a major break from the upward trajectory of international applications over the past 10 years and reflect the impact of the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policies. The landscape for international students in the United States has changed dramatically since the administration began revoking student visas, approving fewer new applications and limited the time international students can stay in the country. Department of Homeland Security data from the 2025–26 academic year showed an average 13 percent decrease in international student enrollment, and new projections say 112,000 fewer international students could be on U.S. campuses this fall.

The data represents applications to Common App’s 1,146 member institutions, which includes fewer than half of all public and private four-year colleges in the country...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/admissions/traditional-age/2026/08/20/applications-international-students-down-10.

==

Common App report at:

https://www.commonapp.org/files/DAR/deadline-updates/2025-26/Common-App-End-of-Season-Report_25-26.pdf. 

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 191

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard International Office is now recommending that J-1 scholars and F-1 and J-1 international students enrolled in on-campus programs this fall try to be in the U.S. when a new Department of Homeland Security rule imposing four-year limits and other restrictions on student visa status takes effect on Sept. 15. 

The recommendation comes because the rule will apply differently to students and scholars already in the country when it takes effect. Those in the U.S. on the day the rule goes into effect will be authorized to remain without filing for an extension until the later of their program end date or the expiration of their post-completion work authorization, up to a maximum of four years. But current students and scholars who leave the country and return after Sept. 15 will become subject to the new rule upon reentry...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/8/21/hio-students-visa-rule/.

Straws in the Wind - Part 444

From Reuters: The U.S. Department of Justice said... it was probing the College of William & Mary, ​alleging the Virginia-based public research institution favored ethnic minorities ‌in certain scholarships and student benefits, and marking the Trump administration's latest targeting of an educational institution... The university said it was reviewing the ​information it received from the DOJ and did not ​comment on pending litigation matters. It said it was committed ⁠to nondiscriminatory learning environments and complying with federal and ​state laws.

While William & Mary's scholarships are not limited to any race, ​the DOJ said in a letter that one scholarship gave "top consideration" to applicants with "interest in diverse people and perspectives." The DOJ said Hispanic women were given ​preference in a fellowship at W&M's School of Education and ​that certain scholarships at W&M Law School "appear exclusively earmarked" for graduates of ‌Historically ⁠Black Colleges and Universities.

Some programs were established to deal with the legacy of slavery and racial discrimination at William & Mary...

Full story at https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/doj-probes-college-william-mary-alleging-discrimination-favor-minorities-2026-08-17/.

They keep coming

EdSource notes that despite the recent federal restrictions on international student visas, enrollment of international students at UC has not fallen off:

...According to preliminary fall admission data, UC admitted its largest class of first-year students this year, including 23,569 international students. That figure reflects an 8% increase in admitted foreign students compared to last year, though fewer are expected to enroll at UC campuses. The system will release its Fall 2026 enrollment figures in December or January, a UC spokesperson said.

Other California universities have seen drops in enrollment. At the University of Southern California, enrollment of international students dropped by 3% last year. And at the California State University system, where international students make up a smaller portion of the student body compared to UC, foreign enrollment had been declining years before Trump took office. 

About 14% of UC’s enrollees are international students, according to PPIC. These students pay more in supplemental tuition than California residents, which helps subsidize the cost of college for in-state residents. For California residents, UC’s tuition for the 2027-28 school year costs $16,278 per year. For nonresident and international students, the annual cost of tuition is $57,300...

Full story at https://edsource.org/2026/trump-student-visa-policy-impact/764348.

It is possible, of course, that the impact of restrictions is delayed. We won't have data on UC enrollment for the current academic year for several months.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 190

From the Harvard Crimson: House Republicans published a sweeping report... accusing Harvard of failing to protect national security interests through repeated academic collaborations with China. The 53-page report — released jointly by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and the Education and Workforce Committee — is the product of a 15-month investigation into Harvard’s ties to China and the CCP. It slams Harvard’s research compliance program as “devoid of substance” and claims the University enabled a long history of research relationships with China that put sensitive military technology at risk. Though some of its findings rehash previous investigations, the report makes a broader case against the University’s protocols for monitoring foreign entanglements, based on interviews with top Harvard officials and a review of thousands of documents shared with the committee by Harvard...

A Harvard spokesperson pushed back against the report’s findings, saying the University “follows national security standards and guidance set by the federal government for its international collaborations.” ...

[The report is] the latest episode in a renewed effort by the federal government to scrutinize Harvard’s foreign entanglements. The Department of Justice is currently investigating whether the University’s acceptance of “Chinese-linked” financial aid gifts violated civil rights law and the Trump administration has long pointed to Harvard’s ties to China to justify its campaign against international students...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/8/18/house-republicans-harvard-china-report/.

Straws in the Wind - Part 441

From the Daily Princetonian: A federal appeals court ruled that a Title IX lawsuit brought by a male undergraduate student who was suspended in 2023 after being found responsible for choking two female students can move forward. The ruling, decided on July 21, reversed the New Jersey district court’s decision dismissing the lawsuit in its entirety. The ruling allows the male student to continue pursuing his Title IX lawsuit against the University. At issue is whether or not sex motivated the University’s decision to suspend the male student.

At the center of the case are claims from two female students, identified in court documents as “Sarah Smith” and “Jane Roe.” They filed separate complaints against the male student, “John Doe,” alleging that he choked them in arguments at or on the way to campus parties during the spring of 2023. The following fall, Doe, a sophomore at the time, was investigated for the two incidents after Smith and Roe separately submitted reports to the University. According to court documents, the Faculty-Student Committee on Discipline found Doe responsible for assaulting Smith and Roe. Doe was also found in violation of the University’s Alcohol Policy by allegedly hosting and serving alcohol to underage individuals. 

Doe was suspended for two years on grounds that he violated the University’s Personal Safety Policy, which bans “any physical assault committed … on the premises of the University or in the local vicinity, especially when unprovoked and/or when injury results.” Doe filed a lawsuit against the University for breach of contract, Title IX violations, and negligence in June 2024, which was later dismissed by the New Jersey district court for failing to state a claim.

In a ruling released this July, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed the dismissal unanimously and sent the case back to the district court for further evidence-gathering and trial. The appeals court found that Doe’s allegations about the University’s handling of the investigation were sufficient to allow his Title IX claim to proceed. Doe alleged that both Smith and Roe’s stories had “evolved” over the course of Princeton’s internal investigation and an “inconsistent manner of seeking out evidence.” Universities including Princeton have “struggled to find the proper balance” between protecting victims and ensuring that respondents receive fairness, Circuit Judge Cheryl Ann Krause wrote in the ruling...

Full story at https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2026/08/princeton-news-titleix-lawsuit-suspended-male-student-appeals-court.

Straws in the Wind - Part 438

From Inside Higher Ed: Thirty senators wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging his agency to process international student and scholar visas in time for the start of the academic year. Led by Alex Padilla, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, the letter cited “the ongoing unavailability of visa appointments during the peak visa application season for students and scholars.” No timely visa appointments are available for students at some embassies and consulates, the senators said. 

“These challenges come at a time when major academic institutions need skilled, international talent to begin their semesters. Without a fix, the repercussions will be felt across the academic and skilled-technical talent pipeline,” the letter argued...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/08/13/senators-prod-state-dept-process-international-visas. 

ICE Hazard

From the Daily Californian: The Berkeley International Office, or BIO, announced... that it is temporarily suspending all applications for Course Credit Curricular Practical Training, the program that allows international students to work in paid off-campus internships. The suspension follows an Aug. 12 memo from ICE warning all Student and Exchange Visitor Program-certified universities — nearly all American colleges — that officials who improperly authorize Curricular Practical Training, or CPT, could face personal liability. ICE threatened to remove universities’ abilities to enroll international students if they did not comply. CPT is a work authorization program that allows international students to work and gain practical experience off campus, either as a requirement of their degree or in exchange for course credit. 

...ICE urged that work authorizations only be approved for major requirements, meaning F-1 students* will be unable to apply for work opportunities in exchange for course credit... International students are still eligible for on-campus jobs, limited to 20 hours a week...

Full story at https://www.dailycal.org/news/campus/uc-berkeley-yields-to-ice-threat-suspends-course-credit-work-applications-for-international-students/article_f7d3e264-99a5-456f-9ed0-87d48b1dc1be.html.

===

*An F-1 visa is a non-immigrant academic student visa that allows foreign nationals to study full-time at an SEVP-certified college, university, high school, or language training program in the United States. SEVP = Student and Exchange Visitor Program.

Less than meets the eye

On Aug. 13, the state senate Appropriations Committee passed AB 713 which has as its goal the hiring by UC of undocumented students. The Regents originally were moving to allow such hiring but halted the effort after the UC general counsel opined that it would violate federal law. Note that when you read the actual provisions of AB 713, it still leaves the decision to the Regents. (There is no such exemption in AB 713 for CSU or the community colleges.) The bill still needs the approval of the full state senate and the governor's signature.

See the full text of the bill below:

Text of AB 713 - AB-713 Public postsecondary education: student employment

Article  3.8. Employment

66029. (a) The University of California, California State University, or California Community Colleges shall not disqualify a student from being hired for an employment position due to their failure to provide proof of federal work authorization, except in either of the following cases:

(1) Where that proof is required by federal law.

(2) Where that proof is required as a condition of a grant that funds the particular employment position for which the student has applied.

(b) The University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges shall treat the prohibition on hiring undocumented noncitizens in Section 1324a(a) of Title 8 of the United States Code as inapplicable because that provision does not apply to any branch of state government.

(c) To the extent student employment is considered a “benefit” for purposes of federal law, this statute shall constitute authorization to provide that benefit for purposes of Section 1621(d) of Title 8 of the United States Code.

(d) The University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges shall implement this article by January 6, 2027.

(e) This article shall apply to the University of California, unless it is found to be inapplicable to the university, then, consistent with Section 67400, this article shall apply to the university only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, make it applicable.

SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

Source: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB713.

Straws in the Wind - Part 436

From the Kansas Reflector: An anonymous tip accusing a Chinese-American chemist and researcher of espionage spurred the University of Kansas into action, notifying the U.S. Department of Justice and building a case against its own employee, Feng “Franklin” Tao said in a lawsuit. Tao was a tenured chemical engineering professor at KU in 2019 when he became one of the first professors arrested under the first Trump administration’s “China Initiative,” a DOJ campaign purportedly created to thwart economic espionage and intellectual property theft.

After a federal indictment, a criminal conviction and an acquittal by an appeals court, Tao said in a lawsuit filed July 21 in federal court that the university violated state and federal workplace discrimination protections and caused harm to his reputation and career prospects. The lawsuit is Tao’s second against KU. He sued in 2025 in an attempt to regain his job and claimed the university discriminated against him. The July lawsuit accused KU of retaliating because of the 2025 discrimination complaints...

Full story at https://kansasreflector.com/briefs/kansas-professor-falsely-accused-of-espionage-wants-university-to-pay-for-firing-harm-to-reputation/.

Straws in the Wind - Part 429

From the Washington Post: After Johns Hopkins University public health researcher Fatima Ameaka was detained by immigration authorities as she boarded a domestic flight [last] Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security said she had overstayed her visa “in violation of our nation’s laws.” Ameaka’s lawyer, Benjamin Osorio, said that claim is “not true,” citing immigration documents he says buttress his client’s case. Ameaka — a native of Cameroon whose Hopkins colleagues have praised for her work advancing public health — was transported from Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport to ICE facilities in Virginia, Louisiana and Texas before being released late [last] Friday.

Her case shows how the Trump administration has begun using domestic air travel and alleged visa violations by foreign nationals as a way to step up deportations around the country... Ameaka, 31, entered the U.S. legally in June 2023 on a Fulbright Scholarship to study for a master’s in public health. Her Fulbright ended in June 2024 and she was hired as a research associate at the university in September of that year, according to her LinkedIn profile and interviews with her colleagues. Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, where Ameaka was employed, said she came to the U.S. for a “Fulbright degree, and then stayed on with a visa to work in our center.” A copy of an employment authorization document, provided by her lawyer, shows it expiring in December 2029...

Full story at https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/08/01/johns-hopkins-health-researcher-released-after-airport-ice-detention/.

A court decision opened the door, but...

The issue of UC hiring (or not hiring) undocumented students keeps coming up in public comments at Regents meetings. The next open Regents meetings are in mid-September. Whether the issue will be on the agenda is unknown.

From the Daily Bruin: The California Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal in the case Umaña Muñoz v. Regents of the University of California in October 2025, letting stand the court of appeals’ ruling that the University cannot bar undocumented students from holding on-campus jobs and that the UC’s current hiring policies discriminate based on immigration status. However, more than eight months later, immigrant rights advocates said the UC has not taken action to comply with the ruling...

A UC Office of the President spokesperson said in an emailed statement that... the court’s decision doesn’t change current hiring practices or mandate the UC to hire undocumented students, the spokesperson added. ...UC... previously argued during the court case that its hiring policies aim to comply with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, a federal law that makes it illegal for employers to hire undocumented people. A majority of regents said not complying would risk billions of dollars in federal research grants...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2026/08/02/undocumented-students-push-for-uc-job-opportunities-citing-california-court-ruling.

Note: The case can be found at:

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ca-court-of-appeal/117570869.html.