An international student studying at Binghamton University is in danger of being deported if he does not pay the over $11,000 he owes to the University.

Frimpong Boateng, a freshman from Asanti Juaben, Ghana, was unenrolled on Feb. 12 and given until Tuesday, Feb. 27, to remove his belongings from his dorm room. He is still living on campus after a meeting with Rodger Summers, the director of Student Affairs, and working out an appeal. But Boateng has until Monday, March 5, to show that he will be able to pay $11,022.75, or he will be deported.

According to Ellen Badger, the director of International Student and Scholar Services, ‘U.S. schools are required, by federal regulation, to report the names of F-1 students [those on student visas] who are not enrolled to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security within 21 days of the loss of enrollment.’

Boateng said that when he received notice of his overdue bill, he initially tried to find ways of getting the money ‘ like finding a co-signer for a student loan ‘ but soon realized that he had to pursue other avenues.

For the time being, Boateng is making a payment of around $2,500 through a loan he is getting from a BU professor. The loan, he said, will eventually be paid by his sister, who is still in Ghana.

He has also sought help from Badger, Summers and the African Student Organization ‘ who will also be vouching for him through a letter declaring their intent to fund raise for his cause.

‘We’re trying to work with him so he can clear his bill,’ said Summers, who has given Boateng a meal plan card to use. ‘He’s really doing the work.’

Imnet Yebio, the Intercultural Affairs representative from the ASO, said the efforts on Boateng’s behalf have not yet been planned, but she has been reaching out to other groups for help.

‘He doesn’t have family, that’s the thing that got me. He doesn’t have an advocate here,’ she said. ‘We have to step up and be his advocate.’

Boateng has been unsurprised by the administration’s response. ‘I can’t say they have not been helpful, and I can’t say that they have been,’ said Boateng, who is considering declaring himself as a mechanical engineering major. ‘They’ve told me what they can do and what they can’t do. Although I understand that, I wish there was something they could do to help me.’

But despite Boateng’s confidence that he will ‘be able to stay until the end of the semester,’ Yebio is still concerned that the deadline is getting near ‘ and that there isn’t enough time.

The report to the Department of Homeland Security was made Feb. 21, but according to Badger, the ‘student can file an application for reinstatement’ with the department.

‘It just happened so quickly, we only heard about it a week ago,’ Yebio said. ‘He’s trying to not worry about being deported ‘ he’s still going to class, and taking really difficult classes.’