The International Community at Princeton: Challenges and Goals in a Time of Policy Uncertainty

Date & Time May 22 2025 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Location Robertson Hall
Bowl 002
Department Program in Law and Public Policy Reunions
Speaker(s)
Matthew Archambault, immigration lawyer at the Law Office of Matthew Archambault
Jeanne LoCicero, ACLU-NJ Legal Director
Udi Ofer, John L. Weinberg Visiting Professor and Lecturer of Public and International Affairs at SPIA, and former Deputy National Political Director of the ACLU and Executive Director of ACLU-NJ
Kai Li, Paul M. And Marcia R. Wythes Professor of Computer Science, and Vice President of the Asian American Scholars Forum
Audience Restricted to Princeton University
Link Event Details

Immigration was a major focus of the first 100 days of the Trump administration. Higher education institutions around the country felt the impact of a rapidly changing, destabilizing policy environment. Visas and visa records (SEVIS), predominantly for students but extending to all categories of university affiliates, were haphazardly terminated; students alleged to have participated in campus activism were ordered to self-deport or face harsh consequences; and, visa holders perceived that they have less security to continue their university programs. One consequence of the uncertainty is that students around the country are making the difficult decision to forego international travel for fear of being unable to return to their universities.

The immigration measures provoked a swift response. Universities intervened on behalf of non-citizen students and faculty in notable cases such as AAUP v. Rubio. In some contexts, including that of Yale, Harvard, Columbia, and Rutgers, universities have made emergency litigation funding available to students or have expanded resources for legal advice and non-legal support on visa-related matters.

This panel will discuss the national landscape, touching on executive policies, recent litigation, and advocacy strategies. It will also discuss the University context, examining how Princeton is impacted, while considering measures that Princeton can adopt to provide legal and non-legal support to non-citizen community members. Finally, the panel will review the strategic tools available to the University, considering lessons from Rutgers’s recent lawsuit. Our panelists are:

  • Matthew Archambault, immigration lawyer at the Law Office of Matthew Archambault;
  • Jeanne LoCicero, ACLU-NJ Legal Director
  • Udi Ofer, John L. Weinberg Visiting Professor and Lecturer of Public and International Affairs at SPIA, and former Deputy National Political Director of the ACLU and Executive Director of ACLU-NJ;
  • Kai Li, Paul M. And Marcia R. Wythes Professor of Computer Science, and Vice President of the Asian American Scholars Forum.

The panel will be moderated by Jeremy Zullow ’17, an attorney who is working with a broad coalition at Princeton to improve the collective capacity to meet the evolving needs of Princeton’s international students, faculty, and staff.

Sponsorship of an event does not constitute institutional endorsement of external speakers or views presented.