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Q&A
Council Member Dinowitz questions CUNY on support for immigrant students
0:38:26
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3 min
Council Member Eric Dinowitz engages in a Q&A session with CUNY representatives, focusing on the challenges faced by immigrant students and the support provided by the university. The discussion covers visa revocations, support services, and financial investments for immigrant students at CUNY.
- 25 student visas were initially revoked but later reinstated, with three students opting to complete their degrees online from their home countries.
- CUNY provides support through Designated School Officials (DSOs) and the CUNY Citizenship NOW program.
- The conversation highlights the lack of specific budget allocations for immigrant student support, with services mostly covered under general funding.
Eric Dinowitz
0:38:26
In line with federal policy, the Department of Homeland Security has revoked student visas at various universities throughout New York City, including at CUNY.
0:38:36
Have CUNY students been affected by this?
0:38:38
And if so, how many CUNY students have been affected?
0:38:47
All 25?
0:39:00
And what types of support has CUNY provided for these students and other immigrant students who are facing similar challenges?
0:40:02
Thank you, and thank you for bringing up CUNY Citizenship NOW.
0:40:05
It is a wonderful program funded that we support and fund in this council that we've held seminars in my district to help people get their citizenship.
0:40:16
I just have to say it's a wonderful, wonderful program that that CUNY CUNY does.
0:40:22
And
0:40:26
Don't worry.
0:40:28
It's okay.
0:40:28
And what financial investments in supporting immigrant students have been made in the are highlighted in the executive budget?
0:41:36
So supporting immigrant students is part of your sort of general fund.
0:41:40
There's no specific allocation designed to help New York City immigrant CUNY students?
0:41:55
Okay.
0:41:56
Okay.
0:41:56
Thank you.
0:41:57
Thank you for that.
0:41:59
I also have to share, it's my opinion that it's ridiculous the very students who you want to be getting an education and, you know, who are trying to do their best for their families and for our city seem to also be the target of our lovely federal administration.
Alicia Alvero
0:38:41
Well 25 student visas were revoked and have since been reinstated.
0:38:47
All 25.
0:38:49
Of those 25, three students had made the decision to go back home and to their country.
0:38:57
All three are completing their degrees online.
0:39:10
Well, every campus has a designated school official, a DSO, for international students.
0:39:17
And at CUNY Central, we really mobilized that team.
0:39:20
The moment our offices received information about received information about the student visa, we proactively reached out to the student and said come to us, we will provide you with all the information necessary in order to make an informed decision about what you should do, connecting them to Citizenship Now, which provides free legal counsel and support, and explain to them what the process is.
0:39:45
In CUNY, the biggest question and fear of the students is am I dropped immediately from one day to the next?
0:39:52
And the answer is no.
0:39:53
Change in status does not change enrollment status.
0:39:57
And so we provided them with all of the information necessary to make the best decision for them.
Félix Matos Rodríguez
0:40:23
it's on the green sheet, so we could do more.
0:40:25
Then we get additional funding.
0:40:40
So, I mean, a number of things.
0:40:42
As you heard when our CFO was answering, what are some of the services that could be restored as a result, for example, of the PEGs being restored.
0:40:53
Clearly, there's a new area.
0:40:55
I mean, it's an ongoing area of need.
0:40:56
We always have had a large number of undocumented immigrant students, international students as part of the CUNY DNA.
0:41:03
So I would imagine that some of the consideration as we decide which services to bring in will be working.
0:41:10
Several of our campuses have either specific offices that support immigrant and undocumented students or they have an office that does that, right?
0:41:19
So, there might be additional staffing that goes to those areas as a result of the of the PEG restoration.
0:41:28
Obviously, any additional funding that comes for advising and all those things will have an impact on also supporting the students.
0:41:48
No.
0:41:48
I don't think specifically, but some of the offices that that do that are supported by state and city dollars.