Even before student activist Mahmoud Khalil was arrested and detained last weekend, sparking outcry from free speech advocates, the Trump Administration had been targeting immigrants in the U.S., with significant implications for foreign students. 

One order signed just a day after Trump’s inauguration threatened enhanced vetting and screening for all visa applicants, including F-1 and J-1 students. F-1 and J-1 visas are non-immigrant visas for studying in the U.S., with F-1 visas for full-time academic students and J-1 visas for exchange visitors in programs like study abroad or internships.

When they arrested Khalil in Columbia University housing, federal agents told his lawyer they were revoking his student visa. Khalil was a lawful permanent resident with no criminal history, and he remains in detention under threat of deportation. 

Khalil’s arrest and Trump’s attacks on international students have sent a chilling message to foreign students.

International students make up 5% of Columbia’s student body, and in interviews with the Chronicle, they shared their growing concern about their future in America.

Sophomore film and television major Sơn Lê Quản said he came to the United States to earn his degree and plans to return home to Vietnam after completing his studies. 

Quản, an F-1 visa holder, said that having a degree from an American institution will increase his chances of securing a decent job back home. 

“Seeing how things are, I’m more afraid of getting booted back way before I can get a degree,” Quản said.

Despite the tensions surrounding the current climate for international students, the International Student and Scholar Services office has reaffirmed its commitment to providing vital information and support for international students.

Clare Lake, director of ISSS, told the Chronicle that at this time, there is no credible proposed ban for F-1 and J-1 students now or in the near future.  

“While some schools told students to return before Jan. 20, International Student and Scholar Services chose not to send out such a notice given we had no credible information that such a ban would happen,” Lake said. 

Until they receive new information about students having issues re-entering in the fall, the ISSS does not advise against traveling and tells students that they may travel according to their comfort level and as allowed by their student visa.

The Chronicle previously reported how Trump’s recent impacts DEI efforts at college campuses, declaring all race-conscious student programming and financial aid illegal. 

This move is part of a broader effort to dismantle DEI programs, which the administration claims discriminate against certain student groups.

One of Trump’s executive orders also expand legal authorities for immigration enforcement that aim to streamline the deportation process and reduce protections for immigrants already in the U.S. 

The measures call for a radical expansion of immigration enforcement infrastructure, such as detention facilities and personnel, to support mass deportations. 

“Considering the entire immigrant deportation plan and the removal of DEI and all that, it’s kind of ridiculous because the only reason why I got here is DEI in the first place,” Quản said. “I came here because it provided me with a better opportunity. It’s more diverse and inclusive to all kinds of people, all kinds of interests and whatnot.”

Rebeca Urzúa, a sophomore music major from Mexico, said that even though she is in the United States legally, she has been feeling stressed and overwhelmed with the recent executive orders and their implications for students like her. 

“I have friends from Latin America, Canada, Europe and many international friends. I know that we’re here legally, but it’s scary,” Urzúa said.

After going home to Mexico during winter break, Urzúa said she was nervous despite returning to the U.S. a few weeks before Trump’s inauguration.

“What scares me more is returning to the U.S. than getting out,” Urzúa said. “I know that I need to have all my files in order.”

Urzúa said she’s worried about how one mistake can cause deportation.

“I’m here legally, but what if the government decides that will change one day? I will have to leave my studies and the life I have built here,” Urzúa said. 

Junior music major Alice Kim, also an F-1 visa holder from Saipan, the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific, is worried about leaving the country now that her whole family is in the U.S. 

“If I don’t get to come back here, I don’t know what else to do,” Kim said. “I just have to go back to my country.”

Kim also shared her worries about her parents being in the process of getting their green card.

“I feel like that’s just gonna slow down, and they’ve been waiting for more than three years now,” Kim said. 

International students with an F-1 visa can work up to 20 hours per week on campus and are only allowed three types of off-campus employment after their first academic year.

One option allows students 12 months to stay after graduation, which gives them temporary work authorization to gain real-world experience in their field of study. 

“I’m really scared because I’m an international student and a music major in an art school,” Kim said. 

Manuela Lopes, a sophomore music major from Brazil, also had concerns about being able to work off campus as an international student.

“Now that we are in the Trump administration, the offices are getting way stricter, so international students are most likely going to get less of an approval to work off campus,” Lopes, who is also an F-1 student, said, adding that she is scared because international students are “seen less as humans and more as a nationality.”

Lopes said she wants to stay for 12 months after graduation but is unsure if she wants to remain in a country “that is going to see me now, way more than ever, by my nationality and not by what I can do.”

“My culture is beautiful, and I’m here to contribute to the people around me,” Lopes said. “It shouldn’t be something that would take away opportunities from me.”

Trump has threatened to cut federal funding to colleges and universities allowing “illegal protests” and suggested arresting or expelling participating American students.

In a social media post on March 4, he stated that “agitators” could face imprisonment or deportation.

Quản said he hasn’t participated in any political protest, but he can imagine how scary it is for those who do because “their lives can be ruined in seconds just because they are stating their rights.”

The dangers for foreign students have risen considerably, and the measures stifle political activism among students.

“I already don’t have a say in most activities in the U.S. with an F-1 visa,” Quản said. “The recent orders only make it worse.”

Quản is set to go back home for the summer break even though he is worried about whether or not he will be able to come back and finish his degree or start his college journey over again back in Vietnam.

“I don’t really feel like there’s anything I need to be afraid of within Columbia at the moment,” he said. “The U.S. in general though, yes.”

Kim said she has always felt unsafe in the U.S., “but it became even more pronounced after Trump was elected.”

Kim also said she had not been involved in political or social activism on campus even before the executive orders rolled out. She feared risking her status as an international student.

“We can never be sure if the things we do might be considered ‘harmful’ to the U.S.,” she said. “I want to stay in the U.S., so I have to be careful with my actions, even if that means staying silent or hiding my thoughts.”

Additional reporting by Samantha Ho.

Copy edited by Patience Hurston