LAYTON, Utah — The head of a local Utah school is blasting the Trump administration's pausing of all student visa appointments worldwide, saying that it will cause suffering for "no clear reason."
Chris Crowder, CEO of Christian Life Center & Layton Christian Academy, sounded off on the impact that the pause could have for schools nationwide.
"Use a little wisdom please," Crowder wrote to President Trump in an email shared with FOX 13 News, in which he outlined the impact the visa pause will have on his school.
According to Crowder, Layton Christian Academy is the second-largest international boarding school in America, with around 350 to 400 international students attending the high school during the course of a year. Those students come from 45 different countries, and come, Crowder said, "with the hope of learning what makes America Great."
The email is in response to the U.S State Department, which halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students this week. According to a cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that was obtained by the Associated Press, the State Department plans to issue new guidance on expanded social media vetting.
“Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consulate sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor visa appointment capacity” until the guidance is issued, Rubio said.
The pause follows the Trump administration's revocation of Harvard University's ability to enroll international students and removing the college from the program that allows schools to sponsor foreign students for visas. However, that action was blocked by a federal judge.
In his email, Crowder said that while the president may be "upset" with Harvard, "what good does it do to try and destroy a High School in Utah."
"[Students] come because America is still the beacon of Freedom in the world," wrote Crowder. "These students come because they value what America stands for and the innovation that America Cultivates.”
During an appearance on Good Day Utah, Crowder shared that now is the time for his school's prospective international students to begin the lengthy process of obtaining visas to come to Utah, and if they aren't able to do so in 3-4 weeks, they won't arrive before school begins in the fall.
Crowder said the school's current valedictorian is an international student from Canada.
"These are not kids that are coming here to disrupt the United States," he added. "These are kids coming to high school and they want to come because America is a bright light in the world.
"I've got so many stories of kids that come even from places like China, a kid that told me, I came here not because the education is superior, but because freedom creates innovation.
"And I thought, wow, this is from a 16-year-old kid telling me this."
Crowder's original email ends with a plea to the president, asking him to "please use some wisdom. And that goes for You too Marco Rubio. Use a little wisdom please.”
