Delaware State University president Tony Allen joins in on the fight against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Allen and the university have backed a current lawsuit that challenges the Trump administration’s immigration policies on college campuses.

President Tony Allen joined the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration in filing an amicus brief in federal court. An amicus brief, usually referred to as a “friend of the court” brief, is filed by someone who is not directly involved in a case but has compelling facts, arguments, or interests to offer the court.

According to a press release from Delaware State, the brief is against “the policy of targeting non-citizen students and faculty with legal standing to teach and learn at institutions of higher education throughout the country, based on their political views.”

The Trump administration has canceled hundreds of international students visas nationwide, causing a rush for them to leave the country within days. Although this may only represent a small percentage of the 1.5 million international students who are thought to be enrolled in universities and colleges in the United States, the impact is being felt throughout the whole higher education system.

According to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a student visa is a “privilege” that can be revoked, particularly if the student engages in any illegal activity. Nevertheless, colleges have frequently not been provided with specific explanations. At least eight international students have had their visas revoked by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, according to the University of Delaware.

In the brief, leaders mentioned several key points:

  • There have been high-profile arrests of non-citizens based on their political views, revocation of the visas of hundreds of international students, and the termination of foreign students’ records in the Student Visitor and Exchange System.
  • Reducing noncitizen enrollment in American schools will harm American students, who will be denied the educational benefits of learning with and from citizens of other countries.
  • Such actions will also harm the American economy, limiting the economic contributions made by hundreds of thousands of non-citizens. This is of particular note in the scientific and technological fields, which have a direct tie to American research and innovation, handing a competitive advantage to other countries.

In 2023, international students made up 6% of the nation’s overall higher education enrollment and had a positive economic impact of over $50 billion. Furthermore, many domestic students are subsidized because international scholars are usually not eligible for financial help and are required to pay full tuition.

In order to assist international and immigrant students in schools, the Presidents’ Alliance was established in 2017. One member of the steering group is the president of Delaware’s only HBCU. The University of Delaware has yet to confirm if President Dennis Assanis is a part of the alliance; the university stated that in order to verify student statuses, it examines its Student and Exchange Visitor Information System daily.

“Taking away these records or these visas will prevent them from studying and living and working in the United States,” said ACLU of Delaware Executive Director Mike Brickner on April 9. “And, there are very specific steps that the government has to go through in order to revoke a student visa—they have due process; they have to have the ability to challenge it.”