International students speak to BDN about rescinding of ICE rules

The Bangor Daily News interviewed Janina Deisenrieder and Raj Anupam, both international graduate students from the University of Maine, about the federal government rescinding new regulations from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that affected international students. The rules, before being withdrawn Tuesday, required international students to take in-person classes in the fall 2020 semester in order to stay in the country and prevent their visas from becoming invalidated. Deisenrieder, a graduate student of communications and global policy from Germany, said the reversal “gives me a little bit of hope that they see the value of international students to the community and to the country.” She also said when the rules were announced, the University of Maine System assured her and other international students that UMS officials would advocate for them. “We have a choice now (to take classes online), like American students,” said Anupam, a graduate student from India studying to become a physics teacher. “Having that ability to choose is really important.”