We received this anonymous testimony from a first year international GA. If this makes you as 😠 mad as it makes us, come to our General Assembly tonight at 5pm so we can organize for campus power and protect international student workers. Full text 👇 #EAluKākou #ShaveICE 🧵 
“I am a first-year International TA. I accepted my program’s offer with the understanding that I would have a GA fellowship and job security all throughout my coursework.
"After the ICE ruling however, my department decided without my consultation that I would not be able to come to Hawai’i, and that I should start my first semester of my PhD program virtually from abroad without a GAship, and therefore no living stipend nor tuition remission.
"I had to advocate to keep my fellowship and apply for an emergency visa through the US immigration system to enter Hawai’i. Due to paperwork lags, I will not be paid until September 20.
"I was just informed that will not receive any of my scholarship money until much later in the semester. I was also told that this was the case for all International GAs. I believe that given the COVID-19 outbreak and bans on students from nations that the US demonizes...
"...as foreign enemies, telecommuting from abroad should be permitted, & GAs working remotely from abroad should be paid. However, according to official UH guidelines, student workers need to sign paperwork, which is irresponsible given the US legally allows completion remotely.
"UH states that "the assistantship associated fund sources may not allow for activities from a foreign location" but "due to the unusual circumstances of the COVID-19 outbreak, telecommuting from outside the US may be permitted within certain parameters."
"This unclear language does not guarantee international student workers' rights. We need to pressure the university to be clear in their support of international students and all workers.
"Int'l student workers face immense precarity at this uni due to the US’s white supremacist deportation regime. This was the case far before the ICE rulings this summer. The US is occupying Hawai’i & has no moral stance to deport migrant workers while displacing Kānaka Maoli.
"International students are worth more than our financial contribution to the university. We come from a wide array of financial circumstances, and we need job security to support ourselves. Many also send remittances back to our families.
"We need the university and US citizens to ensure our job security and labor rights through an official union and through making UH Mānoa a sanctuary campus.” #UnionYES #ShaveICE #EAluKākou Come to our General Assembly tonight at 5pm!
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