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Dear Presidents’ Alliance Member,
In this week’s Member Update:
- Join Us for a Webinar on the Travel Ban, Visa Revocations, Visa Interview Pause & Other Actions: Implications for International Students and Campus Responses
- The Administration Plans to Expand Travel Ban, While Visa Pause Stretches to Third Week
- ICYMI: Celebrating World Refugee Day and Refugees in Higher Education
- Presidents’ Alliance Marks 13 Years of DACA and Urges Congress to Deliver a Permanent Solution
- New Releases! Podcast Episode on DACA and Reports on Black Immigrant Students and FAFSA Challenges
- Immigration in Brief
- Calendar of Events
- Top Reads
| | Join Us for a Webinar on the Travel Ban, Visa Revocations, Visa Interview Pause & Other Actions: Implications for International Students and Campus Responses | | |
Join us for a webinar to discuss the series of recent actions by the administration impacting international students and scholars and campuses on Tuesday, June 24, at 1:00 PM ET. This timely session will unpack the implications of the new travel ban, the pause in visa interviews, visa revocations targeting Chinese students, and other recent policy actions.
Our speakers will share the latest developments, provide an in-depth analysis of what these developments mean for campuses and non-citizen students and employees, deliver updates on ongoing litigation, and provide actionable tools and strategies that colleges, universities, and higher ed stakeholders can use to respond and to support their campus populations.
Speakers will include:
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Rachel Banks, Senior Director, Public Policy & Legislative Strategy, NAFSA
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Ali Procopio, Director of Education & Workforce, FWD.us
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Jill Welch, Co-Founder and Senior Consultant, U.S. for Success Coalition
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Monica Andrade, Director of State Policy and Legal Strategy, Presidents’ Alliance
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Zuzana Čeplá-Wootson, Deputy Director of Federal Policy, Presidents’ Alliance
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The Administration Plans to Expand Travel Ban, While Visa Pause Stretches to Third Week
Expanded Travel Ban. The Trump administration is considering an expansion of its travel ban that went into effect earlier in June. According to a State Department memo signed by Secretary Marco Rubio on June 14, 2025, the expanded restrictions would apply to 36 additional countries—including 25 African nations, along with countries in the Caribbean, Central Asia, and the Pacific Islands. The memo gives the affected governments 60 days to meet newly established requirements or face visa bans and other entry limitations.
The original travel ban, announced earlier this month, already blocks access to F-1, J-1, and M-1 visas for prospective international students and scholars from 19 countries, who were outside the United States without a valid visa as of June 9, 2025.
Ongoing Visa Interview Pause. Meanwhile, the State Department has continued its pause on scheduling new visa interviews for international students around the world. Now entering its third week, this halt comes at a critical moment, as roughly 50 percent of incoming international students have not yet secured their visa appointments for enrollment in the fall 2025 semester. The freeze has been already causing harmful delays, disrupting standard processes, and creating deep uncertainty for students and campuses. Together with the travel ban, the visa interview pause has created not only immediate logistical chaos but also a chilling effect that extends far beyond the targeted populations, discouraging students from around the world from choosing the United States as a destination for higher education. These actions continue a broader pattern of administrative actions—such as SEVIS record terminations and visa revocations—that contradict America’s national economic, academic, and global interests.
In response, the U.S. for Success Coalition has launched an effort urging Congress to act. You can take action here.
| | ICYMI: Celebrating World Refugee Day and Refugees in Higher Education | | |
Ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20, the Presidents’ Alliance hosted a webinar last week to celebrate refugees in higher education. World Refugee Day illuminates the rights, needs, and dreams of refugees, mobilizing partners and allies so refugees can not only survive but thrive.
This webinar shared the latest data on who refugee students are in U.S. higher education and the contributions of refugees to U.S. campuses and communities.
| | Additionally, watch and share a short clip of Presidents’ Alliance President and CEO Miriam Feldblum highlighting our updated resources on LinkedIn, Instagram, and BlueSky. | | Presidents’ Alliance Marks 13 Years of DACA and Urges Congress to Deliver a Permanent Solution | | |
June 15, 2025 marked the 13th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Since 2012, DACA has allowed over 800,000 Dreamers to pursue higher education, build careers, and contribute to the U.S. economy and workforce.
Despite its successes, the DACA program faces ongoing threats, and the uncertainty surrounding its future causes real harm to recipients, their families, employers, campuses, and communities.
As part of this year’s anniversary efforts, the Presidents’ Alliance hosted a congressional briefing on June 12, bringing together legal experts, policy advocates, and workforce leaders to provide updates on the litigation, examine the broader Dreamer population, and highlight the urgent need for bipartisan legislative action. The briefing also underscored the vulnerability of Dreamers without DACA protections, including recent high-profile detentions of college and high school students in Georgia and Massachusetts.
We also joined partners and institutions across the country for a Digital Day of Action to uplift Dreamers' contributions and call for lasting congressional solutions.
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New Releases! Podcast Episode on DACA and Reports on Black Immigrant Students and FAFSA Challenges
Podcast Episode - 13 Years of DACA: A Conversation with Gaby Pacheco - Listen to a special episode of Intersections with Dr. Russell to mark the 13th anniversary of DACA. Dr. Felecia Russell, Director of the Higher Ed Immigration Portal, speaks with Gaby Pacheco, CEO of TheDream.US and a nationally recognized advocate who played a pivotal role in the creation of DACA. In the episode, Gaby reflects on her extraordinary journey and shares personal and political challenges she’s faced, including leading the historic Trail of Dreams walk to elevate the voices of immigrant youth, and delivers a compelling call to action for what we all can do now.
| | Report - Absent in the Data, Present on Campus: A Closer Look at Black Immigrant Students in U.S. Higher Education - Our new brief focuses on Black immigrants in U.S. higher education and provides a descriptive overview of this population, including undergraduate and graduate enrollment, institutional type (public vs. private), diversity within the group, age of arrival, degree types, and immigration status. | Report - Broken Promises: How the New FAFSA Failed Mixed-Status Families and the Counselors Who Serve Them - Our new report provides a detailed analysis of the challenges faced by mixed-status families during the last FAFSA cycle and the resulting impact on students’ postsecondary plans. | | |
Immigration in Brief
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The New Jersey Legislature recently introduced A.5676. If enacted, this bill would remove the eligibility of certain students, including undocumented students, from receiving state financial aid or in-state tuition at New Jersey public institutions. The state of New Jersey has provided undocumented students access to in-state tuition since 2013 and access to state financial aid since 2018.
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On Wednesday, a federal judge in New Jersey ruled that Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student, must be released—but will remain in custody until at least June 13 to allow the government time to appeal. The Trump administration has stated it will not release him.
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Last Thursday, DHS announced it has begun notifying recipients of the parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) that their parole and work authorization are terminated effective immediately. Notices are being sent to the email addresses provided by recipients.
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Calendar of Events
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June 24, 2025 | Webinar - Travel Ban, Visa Revocations, Visa Interview Pause & Other Actions: Implications for International Students and Campus Responses | Register Here
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September 10-12, 2025 | SUCCESS Convening at the University of Illinois Chicago | Register Here
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Thank you for your support and engagement.
The Presidents’ Alliance Team
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