{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/outlining-maine-economic-benefits-of-foreign-students-senator-king-urges-secretary-of-state-rubio-to-reconsider-harmful-pause", "Outlining Maine Economic Benefits of Foreign Students, Senator King Urges Secretary of State Rubio to Reconsider Harmful Pause", "2025-06-20", "2025", "2025-06", "Independent", "Senate", "ME", "Angus S. King, Jr.", "K000383", "www.king.senate.gov", "angusking", "https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/table", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) called on the State Department to reinstate student visa programs for the benefit of Maine schools and the state\u2019s local economy. In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, King outlined the immediate impact of revoking student visas on schools in Maine like Thornton Academy, the University of New England (UNE), Foxcroft Academy, College of the Atlantic and the University of Maine (UMaine) System.\n\nSenator King began, \u201cI write to underscore the critically harmful impacts that the Department of State\u2019s decision to pause new visa interviews for international students, as well as the Department\u2019s threats to revoke visas of Chinese students, are having on schools across the state of Maine.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese actions are deterring international families from sending their students to the U.S.\u2014the tuition of which contributes significantly to the revenue of secondary schools and institutions of higher education in Maine. Thornton Academy, which functions as the public high school for students in Saco, and its neighboring towns in Maine, has already seen a loss of $120,000 in revenue due to the withdrawal of Chinese education programs from their summer camp. Thornton Academy anticipates a potential annual loss of $6.6 million should the Administration\u2019s policy remain in place\u2014a loss of one third of the school\u2019s annual budget for employee salary payments,\u201d King continued.\n\nKing concluded, \u201cInternational students studying at schools in Maine are subsidizing the cost of local education, saving taxpayers money, and providing Maine students with unmatched opportunities. These are not funds coming from the pockets of our community, the taxes of our businesses, or from the federal government. These are funds brought in from outside of the United States and used to the benefit of all our students both domestic and international.\n\nKing has long supported the impact and contributions of international students. Earlier this year, he introduced legislation to streamline the bureaucratic process for international students to obtain legal status and bolster the United States\u2019 STEM labor force.\n\nThe full text of the letter can be found here and below.\n\n+++\n\nDear Secretary Rubio:\n\nI write to underscore the critically harmful impacts that the Department of State\u2019s decision to pause new visa interviews for international students, as well as the Department\u2019s threats to revoke visas of Chinese students, are having on schools across the state of Maine.\n\nThese actions are deterring international families from sending their students to the U.S.\u2014the tuition of which contributes significantly to the revenue of secondary schools and institutions of higher education in Maine. Thornton Academy, which functions as the public high school for students in Saco, and its neighboring towns in Maine, has already seen a loss of $120,000 in revenue due to the withdrawal of Chinese education programs from their summer camp. Thornton Academy anticipates a potential annual loss of $6.6 million should the Administration\u2019s policy remain in place\u2014a loss of one third of the school\u2019s annual budget for employee salary payments. College of the Atlantic, a small liberal arts college in Bar Harbor, Maine, projects a loss of thirty five percent of their net tuition due to these policies. These are just a few examples\u2014schools across Maine report that real and projected reductions in international student enrollments, and the corresponding loss of revenue associated with their tuition, will almost certainly result in staff layoffs. These layoffs will not only harm students but also have a damaging ripple effect on our local economies.\n\nThe non-monetary contributions of these students to Maine communities cannot be overstated. Our state university system hosts students from 85 countries. Foxcroft Academy, a day and boarding school in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, hosts about 20% of its entire student population from countries around the world. These students bring diverse cultures and perspectives to their new communities and create an opportunity for all Maine students to consider the world with a far greater exposure than otherwise possible.\n\nNot only does Maine benefit from these students, but the education that they receive in our state has also taken them far\u2014international students who studied in Maine have participated in global academic competitions, become published authors, and have even become professors themselves. The Administration has yet to provide a compelling reason for its decision to rob our communities of this worthwhile exchange.\n\nInternational students studying at schools in Maine are subsidizing the cost of local education, saving taxpayers money, and providing Maine students with unmatched opportunities. These are not funds coming from the pockets of our community, the taxes of our businesses, or from the federal government. These are funds brought in from outside of the United State and used to the benefit of all our students both domestic and international.\n\nI urge you to reconsider the Department of State\u2019s policies regarding international student visa pauses and revocations, for the benefit of Maine and the entire nation.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T01:08:28Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/outlining-maine-economic-benefits-of-foreign-students-senator-king-urges-secretary-of-state-rubio-to-reconsider-harmful-pause"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.037168877199292, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}