The uncertainty and risks overshadowing the lives of international students in the US cannot be taken lightly.
My first experience with this reality came in 2003 when I left Kolkata to pursue undergraduate studies at a small liberal arts college in upstate New York. At the time, the U.S.-led “War on Terror” was at its peak. Just a few months before my arrival in New York, American forces had invaded Iraq.
On campus, I quickly became aware of the hyper-nationalism fueling the war against the so-called “Axis of Evil,” the lack of critical discussions on U.S. foreign policy in classrooms, the “random” security screenings at airports, and the Islamophobia and racism pervasive in the media. It didn’t take long for me to realize that people who looked like me were not welcome in the “land of the free.”
Over the years, the situation for international students in the U.S. has not improved. In the eyes of many Americans, they remain untrustworthy, unwanted foreigners. However, under Trump’s second term, this uncertainty has escalated into something far more alarming. Today, the United States is not just intolerant—it has become outright dangerous for international students.
Trump has made life even more difficult for them. During his campaign, he claimed that American universities were “controlled by Marxists and radical leftists” and expressed contempt for pro-Palestinian voices on campuses. In October 2023, he declared that, if re-elected, he would revoke the visas of “radical, anti-American, antisemitic foreign students” involved in pro-Palestinian protests.
Upon returning to office, he began targeting pro-Palestinian students and faculty. A notable example is Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate. Despite being a Green Card holder, the Trump administration has sought to deport Khalil for mediating between student protesters and the administration during pro-Palestinian demonstrations. He has been accused of engaging in “pro-Hamas, anti-American” activities.
In March 2024, ICE officers arrested Khalil at his New York home in front of his pregnant American wife and detained him in a Louisiana detention center.
In another incident, Tufts University PhD student and Turkish national Rumeysa Ozturk was abducted by masked police in Boston and sent to the same detention facility. Her crime? Writing an op-ed in a Tufts student publication calling for the university to divest from Israel.
These cases demonstrate that, under Trump, freedom of expression in the U.S. is under threat. Merely advocating for Palestinian rights has made students targets of state persecution. As a result, American campuses are no longer dream destinations for international students—they have become places of fear and uncertainty.
Dr. Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral scholar at Georgetown University and an Indian national, now faces an uncertain future in an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detention center in Texas. Authorities are attempting to deport him—despite the fact that he never participated in any pro-Palestinian solidarity movements. His alleged “crime”?
Being the son-in-law of Ahmed Yousef, a former advisor to Gaza’s Hamas government. However, Yousef left Hamas’s political wing over a decade ago and publicly condemned the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel as a “grave mistake.”
Another case involves Momodou Taal, a PhD candidate at Cornell University and a dual citizen of the UK and The Gambia, who participated in pro-Palestinian protests. U.S. immigration authorities later ordered him to surrender. Fearing for his safety, he went into hiding and ultimately decided to leave the country after more than two weeks in concealment.
These cases are just the tip of the iceberg. The Trump administration has already revoked the visas of hundreds of international students for their involvement in pro-Palestinian activism or related social media posts.
As of April 10, over 600 international students across more than 100 U.S. colleges and universities have been affected—with no end in sight. The Department of Homeland Security is now monitoring foreign nationals’ social media activity, denying visas and Green Cards to those engaged in pro-Palestinian advocacy or, in the Trump administration’s words, “antisemitic activities.”
Meanwhile, America’s top universities appear to be capitulating to this pressure. To maintain federal funding, they are abandoning their international students in the face of government crackdowns.
Take Columbia University, for example. When the Trump administration withheld
400 million in federal funding, accusing the university of “inaction” during pro−Palestinian protests, Columbia quickly complied—despite having an endowment of nearly 15 billion. The university swiftly amended campus policies, increased security, and took measures to prevent further solidarity encampments or demonstrations.
Additionally, the Trump administration has demanded that Columbia’s Middle East, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS) department be placed under a five-year “academic receivership”—a measure typically reserved for failing academic programs in need of “corrective oversight.”
Following Trump’s directive, the university appointed a new senior vice provost to monitor the department.
Is US safe now
Harvard University has faced similar pressures from the Trump administration, which issued a series of demands to maintain federal funding—including calls to “eliminate bias, promote intellectual diversity, and curb ideological monopolies,” particularly in departments accused of fostering “antisemitic harassment.” While no specific departments were named (unlike Columbia’s Middle East studies program), Harvard’s administration understood the implicit directive.
David M. Cutler, interim dean of Harvard’s Division of Social Sciences, dismissed the leadership of the university’s Middle East Studies Center, accusing it of promoting a “one-sided” perspective on Palestine and lacking “balance and diversity of viewpoints” in its programming. Harvard also severed ties with Birzeit University, a Palestinian institution in the West Bank.
The capitulation of elite American universities like Harvard reveals a troubling shift: these institutions no longer prioritize their foundational mission of nurturing critical thought and diverse perspectives. Instead, they have devolved into transactional entities—no longer true bastions of higher learning, but businesses where students (the “customers”) pay for a product (a degree).
This calculus likely explains why university administrators have chosen to sacrifice international students. The federal funding at risk outweighs the tuition revenue these students contribute—leaving them expendable.
The Trump administration’s crackdown extends beyond targeting pro-Palestinian students. It has also launched an offensive against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives—programs that had, in recent years, made U.S. campuses marginally more welcoming for marginalized and minority students, including those from the Global South.
The combined effect of these policies has transformed American universities into hostile environments for international students, particularly those from the Global South.
For international students in the U.S., life has become fraught with peril. The precedent is clear: any act of dissent—whether participating in a protest, publishing an article, or expressing views that displease the White House or its allies—could lead to detention, deportation, or revocation of legal status. Even familial ties (such as a relative’s past employment) may now justify expulsion.
With little hope of legal or political recourse, prospective students must confront a sobering question: Is pursuing higher education in the United States worth the risk?