Trump's visa order leaves international students with a ‘sense of inferiority'

Indian Express

a day ago

US President Donald Trump once pledged to welcome international students with open arms. While campaigning, he promised to grant green cards to all foreign graduates of US colleges.
Speaking in a podcast interview last June, he had said: 'It's so sad when we lose people from Harvard, MIT, from the greatest schools… That is going to end on Day One.'
However, contrary to his words, Trump's administration has now unleashed a bunch of policies that have left foreign students feeling targeted, anxious, and unsure of their future in the United States, an Associated Press (AP) investigation says. These policies include abrupt student visa restrictions, halted interviews, and even an executive order this week, banning nearly all foreigners from entering the country to study at institutions like Harvard.
Trump has signed a proclamation to suspend foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in an exchange programme at Harvard University, the White House said on Wednesday. The proclamation directs the US State Department to 'consider revoking' exchange visas or existing academics of students currently at Harvard 'who meet the proclamation's criteria.'
Markuss Saule, a freshman at Brigham Young University-Idaho and a top student from Latvia, spoke to the AP about the fear he felt returning from a trip home. He deleted all political content from his phone mid-flight, terrified of being denied entry back into the US.
'That whole 10-hour flight, where I was debating, 'Will they let me in?' — it definitely killed me a little bit,' said Saule, who holds a 4.0 GPA and had once aspired to start a life in America. 'If you had asked me at the end of 2024 what my plans were, it was to get married, find a great job here in the US and start a family… Ask me now, and the plan is to leave this place as soon as possible.'
'Now I feel a sense of inferiority. I feel that I am expendable,' Saule added. 'The policies, what they tell me is simple. It is one word: Leave.'
Avi, a 24-year-old Indian physics graduate working in Arizona, arrived in the US six years ago and had dreams of working at NASA. That dream is now clouded by fear. Despite being on a valid student visa under the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, he avoids even domestic travel.
'Do I risk seeing my family or risk deportation?' he asked. He now avoids drawing attention on his commute, driving slowly to reduce the chance of being pulled over. Meanwhile, he scours job listings in India and other countries. His visa remains valid until next year, but looming policy shifts—including the administration's stated desire to eliminate OPT—make planning difficult. 'I spend a lot of time doomscrolling job listings,' he said. 'I feel a massive amount of uncertainty.'
Vladyslav Plyaka left Ukraine for high school in the US and now studies at the University of Wisconsin. He won a scholarship on his third attempt, but can't visit his mother in Poland because student visa appointments are suspended. If he leaves, he may not be able to return.
'It's hard because every day I have to think about my family, if everything is going to be all right,' Plyaka told AP. He feels torn between his duty to his family and country and his opportunity to get a US education—one he worked hard to earn. 'I decided to stay here just because of how good the college education is,' he said. 'If it was not good, I probably would be on the front lines.'
For these students, the past few months have been disorienting, reports AP.
(With inputs from AP)