Statement by Senator Parker on New Trump Administration Immigration Rule

In a continued game of political football with the lives of vulnerable communities, the Trump administration has announced new immigration guidelines which strike at the Achilles’ heel of millions of international students enrolled at U.S colleges and universities.  In the guidelines issued this week by the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), current international students will be forced to transfer to another school or leave the country altogether if their school goes completely online for the fall semester. These guidelines are baseless and make absolutely no sense in the minds of conscionable people. But in playing to his base, the President is continuing his hard-line stance on immigration issues. As well, it is an attempt to pressure institutions of learning to open up their doors to in-class sessions this fall. This preference is one that the President has repeatedly expressed while pointing fingers at the Democrats for using school closings to “play politics.” It is time for these bullying tactics repeatedly coming out of the White House to stop! The practice of disrupting the lives of people who came to this country in search of a better life and tearing families apart is no game. Therefore, it is high time that we stop bouncing this political football off the backs of immigrants.