Ohio University will provide housing and other accommodations during the summer to international students who may be affected by President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration.
The services will be offered through a partnership with OU’s International Student and Faculty Services, Housing and Residence Life, and Culinary Services, OU Spokesman Dan Pittman said.
“International Students who had anticipated to return home for the summer but are no longer planning to do so because of potential future travel restrictions should contact ISFS,” Pittman said in an email.
On Jan. 27, Trump signed an executive order suspending the entry of all refugees to the United States for 120 days and blocked the entry of Syrian refugees indefinitely. It banned citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the United States for 90 days. A few days later, former OU President Roderick McDavis released a statement recommending OU students from the seven predominantly Muslim countries not leave the United States.
In early February, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a nationwide injunction blocking Trump’s immigration executive order.
On Monday, Trump signed a new version of the executive order that removed Iraq from the list of seven countries. Seventeen students came to OU from Iraq in spring 2016, according to OU's Office of Institutional Research.
During Spring Semester 2016, 80 students came to OU from the now six countries affected by the ban, according to OU's Office of Institutional Research.
About 100 students, faculty and staff could be affected by the initial executive order, according to OU’s website launched by the university to provide updates on Trump's federal immigration policy as well as the university's response.
The Division of Student Affairs has offered to waive the WellBeing fee for any international student who wants to use Counseling and Psychological Services but did not pay the fee at the start of Spring Semester, according to the website.
The Office of Legal Affairs has an immigration attorney on staff who can provide general immigration resources, according to the website.
