If you want to make a substantial donation and/or want to ensure that 100% of your donation reaches us, please email umdgradworkers@gmail.com to coordinate.

If you are a UMD GLU member looking to request mutual aid funds, please also reach out to us at umdgradworkers@gmail.com. To be eligible, you must be a grad worker who has signed a UMD GLU authorization card.

International students are an integral part of the community of graduate workers at UMD. In addition to the overall upheaval that accompanies relocation, we have to contend with unique challenges at the workplace: extra fees and course requirements, visa and immigration precarity, complicated tax laws, zero support finding housing and settling into the community, and insufficient support from poorly-informed department administrators.

At the federal level, short-sighted and xenophobic policies have created tremendous stress, concern and uncertainty for international researchers and our futures.

In 2023, two of our colleagues were deported and had their visas rescinded in the middle of their programs due to the discriminatory Proclamation 10043. UMD refused to support them in any substantial way, including financially.
In 2025, some our colleagues, along with thousands of other international grads across the country, had their legal status arbitrarily revoked, putting them in direct danger of detention and deportation. Again, UMD refused to provide financial support, and we were the ones who helped fund our colleague's legal fees.

When we win recognition, our tentative platform includes a demand for UMD to establish a fund to help international grads cover costs associated with maintaining their status, including legal fees. In the meantime, we're helping our international coworkers where the school fails to. The money raised with this campaign will go directly to our international members facing emergency situations.

International Grad Worker Fund

International grad workers at UMD face many additional and unique challenges due to their visa status. This fund is meant to help international grad workers with emergency costs