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I am a local high school teacher, and my school’s operating budget depends in large part on international enrollment, most especially from China. We are, in essence, exporters of knowledge, and the revenue generated by that export enables us to offer a higher quality product to all students, day and boarding.
The U.S. State Department’s recent announcement that it would “aggressively revoke” visas from Chinese students sent a chill through all of us whose livelihoods hang in the balance. Our international students are not here to engage in politics or espionage, but rather to learn and to be immersed in American culture.
Like many measures of the current administration, I believe this unwise and disproportionate move will not “put America first” but will rather cause real economic disruption for many American educators and institutions. Not only will the policy make it harder for Chinese students to study here, it will broadly discourage international enrollment from across the globe for the foreseeable future.
Our international students and families are valued community members and economic partners. We cannot afford to treat them as pawns in a game.
Jason Moreau
Orrington
