Opinion | What Is Lost When We Scare Away Foreign Students
International students are a vital and enriching presence on any campus.They are drawn to the United States for our academic excellence and free exchange of ideas.
But over the past few months, current and prospective international students — as well as university faculty members — have felt increasingly unwelcome in this country, as over 1,000 students have had their visas revoked or their immigration statuses terminated.Fear and anxiety have begun to alter campus life.
At risk are the very concept of a university as a meeting point for intellectual thought from around the world and U.S.global leadership in higher education.Since President Trump took office on Jan.
20, immigration agents have detained university students around the country.Minor infractions, including traffic violations, which typically did not endanger one’s visa status under other administrations, have become cause for status termination or visa revocation.
Participation in any form of protest against the war in Gaza has become cause for visa review.In early March, Axios reported that the State Department planned to use artificial intelligence to help review the social media posts of tens of thousands of student visa holders.
This was said to be part of an effort to identify and remove students who purportedly expressed support for Hamas or other designated terrorist groups.U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services is also reviewing students’ social media posts as possible grounds for denying applications and other requests submitted to the agency.The numbers rise by the day: So far, more than 240 colleges and universities have identified over 1,500 students and recent graduates who have had their visas revoked or their legal status changed, according to Inside Higher Ed.There is no clear justification for many of these cases.
In the past, universities worked with immigration authorities and students to address changes in visa status; now universities often are among the last to kn...