This interview aired in the September 10, 2026 episode of Crosscurrents.
Click the button above to listen.
Bay Area college students have been back in school for less than a month now. At UC Berkeley, immigration is coming up as part of the back to school experience for many.
Last month Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent a memo to the university that impacted thousands of their students here on visas. ICE sent a warning to the school letting it know that it risked losing government approval to take foreign students, if it did not close a temporary work authorization program called Course Credit Curricular Practical Training, or CPT.
This program allowed foreign students to gain experience working for hi-tech businesses related to their field of study. Now UC Berkeley has indefinitely paused applications for the CPT work permit.
Ayah Alshiekhah is news editor for The Daily Californian. She helped break the story, and here she helps us understand how this is impacting students.
