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Marios Chartosias’ life was turned upside down.
A research and teaching assistant in Cal State Long Beach’s College of Engineering, Chartosias, 28, was planning to apply for a 17-month extension to his student visa that allows international graduates who majored in science, technology, engineering or math to stay in the United States and work in jobs or paid internships up to 12 months without a work visa.
The program, run by the Department of Homeland Security, is being challenged in court. In January a federal judge put the STEM extension program on hold until May 10, when she is scheduled to rule if it should continue or be scrapped, meaning some students might have to leave the United States.
THOUSANDS AFFECTED
“It’s making things hard. Not knowing is worse than having an answer and being able to plan,” said Chartosias, who is from Cyprus. “Everything is put on hold. There are so many things we can’t plan for when we don’t know what will happen. I can’t afford to wait. I need a backup plan.”
If the STEM extension program is eliminated, about 1,700 CSULB students, including Chartosias, would be affected, said Terrence Graham, associate dean and executive director of international programs at CSULB. Nationwide, an estimated 434,000 students would be affected, according to Homeland Security.
Graham hopes the court will rule in favor of the STEM extension.
“Students have a lot of choices of where around the world they want to go to school,” he said. “Having that training opportunity is very attract to international students.”
Graham is holding out hope for a positive ruling.
“I’m trying to be optimistic about this, but it comes down to a court decision,” he said.
THE LAWSUIT
The lawsuit challenging the STEM extension was filed by the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, which sued the Department of Homeland Security. The group claims the 17-month extension, which was implemented in 2008, was issued without proper public notice or comment.
In August 2015, Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle ruled that extension was invalid, put it on hold and gave the government six months to gather public comment. After receiving more than 50,000 comments, Homeland Security said in December it would not make the February deadline and received an additional 90-days to complete the process.
Earlier this month, Homeland Security filed a motion with the court saying it had followed proper public comment process and asked that the lawsuit be dismissed.
The department also wants to increase the STEM extension from 17 to 24 months.
The judge might rule before May 10, but for Chartosias, time is ticking. He needs to have a plan B.
“It’s very stressful,” he said. “If I have to pick, maybe I’ll go back home.”
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