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students to address changes in visa status; now universities often are among the last to know when students’ visas have been revoked.

The government retains the right to remove foreign nationals who violate the requirements of their visa or who are perceived as threats to national security, foreign policy or public safety. The question is: Who determines if they pose a threat? The Trump administration is undermining constitutional rights to due process and free speech accorded to visitors and citizens alike in its deployment of a sweeping interpretation of “threat,” and under immigration law there is little room for courts to intervene.

Foreign nationals who are legally in the United States on temporary visas and green cards are panicking. They are finding guardians for their children in case of emergency, deleting even benign social media posts and moving to secure apps like Signal to communicate. Many are afraid to leave campus or to attend academic seminars abroad for fear of rough treatment at the border or detention.