In the House Judiciary Committee’s markup of Republicans’ disastrous budget reconciliation package, Congresswoman Deborah Ross (NC-02) offered an amendment to ensure that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cannot use any funds in the bill to terminate the legal status of student visa holders without providing adequate due process. In North Carolina, international students have been subjected to the Trump administration’s cruel attempts to terminate their visas and deport them. House Republicans unanimously voted against her amendment during the markup.

Click here to download Congresswoman Ross’ full remarks

“The Trump administration is turning university campuses into places of fear, including my own NC State University. NC State and universities like that are places of learning with many, many international students. Using immigration enforcement as a weapon to stifle free speech, restrict due process, and attack legal immigration is an attack on knowledge and progress,” Congresswoman Ross said during the hearing.

She continued, “ICE should never again be able to attack our educational institutions like this. If ICE is going to terminate the legal status of a student, it must provide reasonable notice and an opportunity to challenge that termination.”