Last week I wrote about the perks of being an International Student in the U.S.
This week I am about to address the one thing that might just ruin everything for us: Trump!
This is a growing fear these days, and we've all asked this question. Will a Trump presidency (God forbid) affect my education as a non-U.S. citizen? The answer is simple. And the answer is YES.
Even though you will probably not get deported immediately and may not have to forfeit your program of study in the midst of it all, there are some not so pleasant circumstances that we might have to face as F-1 holders.
Trump may have tweeted nice and sweet little things about foreign students but his policies state otherwise.
This was tweeted last year, however, one might wonder, it's Trump. He can change his mind whenever he wants. According to a CNN review, Trump aims to "suspend immigration from areas of the world when there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe, or our allies.", as per a statement he passed on at a rally in June. This is where the confusion arises. Most international students who are planning to apply to U.S. universities originate from countries of Muslim origin, many of them, unfortunately, struck with deeply rooted terrorism.
So, even though he says he wants us to flourish in this country, the country which we all at one point in time identified as the "land of opportunity", his policies don't really reflect it. But who's to say he will actually implement them right?
Then there is the age-old fog surrounding the job market for foreign students. Trump had had recently passed comments about the H1-B program, sparking an outrage within Indian students given that most international students that come to study in the U.S. hail from India. During his meeting with Narendra Modi however, not much has been talked about regarding this issue. It was, for the most part, a positive exchange of words, since Trump knows better than to mess with the massive amount of manpower Indians bring to the country's workforce. If not only for Indians, getting a job after graduating was always tough for all foreign students. With a Trump presidency, that difficulty could reach a new height without a doubt.
To recap, Trump's intentions seem very vague if not utterly outrageous and hard to perceive. Only time can reveal the outcome of his rule. But for the most part we can safely assume that the outcome will not be so positive, especially if you identify as "foreign" in any way, shape or form. With that being said, good luck to all International Students with F-1 status in their future endeavors, and as always, it helps to be vigilant and watch out for the worse.