Campus Faculty Association Supports Coalition Standing Up for International Students and Scholars

For Immediate Release — September 17, 2026

The Campus Faculty Association (CFA) of the University of Illinois would like to thank the coalition of organizations, including the American Federation of Teachers, that filed a lawsuit challenging new federal regulations affecting Duration of Status for international students and scholars.

On September 14, United States District Judge Dennis Saylor IV granted a nationwide injunction preventing the implementation of these new regulations while the litigation is pending.

The existing Duration of Status structure allows international students and researchers to complete their studies while maintaining lawful status. Disrupting this long-standing policy would have a significant negative impact on the University of Illinois, and on the ability of American universities to be global leaders in cutting-edge research.

The CFA at the University of Illinois is currently engaged in a unionization drive for tenure track faculty at the Champaign-Urbana campus. We believe that unionization is a vital step for faculty to advocate for international scholars and students who are critical to maintaining the university’s status as a premier research institution.

CFA Co-Presidents Kate Clancy and Gus Wood state, “It is especially gratifying that our parent union, the American Federation of Teachers, took an active role in standing up to these proposed changes to Duration of Status. As faculty who teach, research, and run labs at the University of Illinois, we see first-hand every day the importance of international students for the vitality of research on our campus. This fight exemplifies why we are organizing for union recognition under the American Federation of Teachers.”

The American Federation of Teachers, which was party to the Duration of Status lawsuit, is one of the affiliate organizations for the CFA.

For more information call Emily E. LB. Twarog, 773-744-8184

Download the original September 17, 2026 press release (PDF)