Declaration and Declarant

A declaration is a written statement of fact submitted to a court to support or oppose a motion, complaint, or other legal filing. Those who submit a declaration are referred to as declarants. The declarant must swear under penalty of perjury that the information is true and correct. The declaration becomes part of the public record. The goal of the declaration is to:

• Establish the standing and credibility of an organization or individual.
• Provides firsthand, factual evidence of harm or impact caused by the challenged action.
• Supplement or explain technical data, policies, or operational realities that support legal arguments made in brief.
• Be compelling and persuasive to support the case’s overall purposes.

A declaration may be filed by a university leader or administrator, a designated school official or responsible officer, institutional researcher or financial officer, or a faculty member or program director. A declaration is a formal legal statement that may require an institutional process for drafting, reviewing, finalization, and signature.

Provide Evidence of Potential Harm

Litigation challenging the duration of status rule must provide factual statements of potential undue burden or harm caused by the final rule if implemented.

Higher education institutions may demonstrate undue burden or harm in various ways.

1. Undue administrative and operational burden. Provide data on: projected increase in workload, staffing impact, training and system costs, case management volume, and/or operational disruption.
2. Financial harm due to deterrent effect on international enrollment. Provide data on: tuition and fee revenue declines, dependence ratios (percentage of total tuition or auxiliary income from F-1/J-1 students), enrollment projections, program viability, and/or research funding loss.
3. Undue academic and research interference. Provide data on: program duration mismatch, research disruption, faculty dependency, and collaborative projects.
4. Student support and campus climate. Provide data on: advising capacity strain, counseling and crisis support utilization, student retention impacts, and response to survey data documenting fear based on policy instability or perceived unwelcomeness.  
5. Institutional reputation and competitiveness. Provide data on: yield declines, partnership risks, and marketing expenditures.