A young philosopher writes:
I hope you’re staying safe. I want to thank you for your coverage of the pandemic, which has been immensely helpful to us all.
I also wanted to bring attention to a related issue. The pandemic is creating additional problems for foreign faculty and students on visas. Many visas have residency requirements, and some of these have not been updated or had exceptions made for them in light of the pandemic. Because of this, some are finding that in traveling to safer places, or failing to travel back to more dangerous ones, they are at risk of losing their visas and therefore their employment.
If it helps, let me illustrate this issue with my own example. I am a [non-US] citizen who is (was?) a lecturer in the philosophy department at [U.S. research university] on a J1 visa (for short-term, international scholars). Because of the pandemic, I found it advisable to return to [my home country]. I informed the university and department of my intention to return to [my home country], which I did. A day later the university terminated my employment for ‘voluntarily violating my visa’, in particular the residency requirement. I will no longer be getting paid this term, and my courses and students are now in jeopardy (the university has still not informed them of the change, as evidenced by their continued emails to me, and online lectures are slated to start Monday morning).
In discussing this with other international faculty, at [my former U.S. university] and elsewhere, it has become clear that many are deciding to withhold certain information from both the administration and the department. This so as not to jeopardize their visas and employment. I am hoping that you might be able to bring attention to this issue and prevent others from jeopardizing their own employment or studies.
This the first I've heard of this, but my guess is others are in similar binds or having similar problems. IF any of my law readers know more about the visa rules, please weigh in. Links and advice from those with relevant experience are welcome.
