University of Wisconsin-Madison student John always dreamed of teaching. He came to the United States for his doctorate because he believed its multiculturalism would expand his perspective.
But recent events have left John, a teaching assistant working toward his doctorate, worried about how much time he has left in the country. Though proposed National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding cuts haven’t directly affected his department, UW-Madison has instructed departments to develop budget reduction plans in preparation of more funding cuts and John expressed his concern anything his department says “against [the Trump] administration” might put a target on his back.
John isn’t alone in feeling this way. Between the Department of Education’s orders to eliminate race-based programs including diversity scholarships, cuts to research funding and crackdowns on students participating in protests, international students are weighing whether to stay or find another country.
International students chilled into silence, students say
In March, U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) revoked Columbia University student Ranjani Srinivasan’s student visa after police arrested her for walking past Columbia’s student encampment last spring, sending shockwaves throughout the country.
John was stunned when he saw Srinivasan’s story. If that could happen to Srinivasan, a student who didn’t participate in the protest and whose charges were later dropped, John wondered how the U.S. government would treat him considering he actually participated in last spring's pro-Palestine protests.
“We feel that we are outsiders already,” John said. “And [Trump’s] highlighting that and giving it legal backing.”
UW-Madison student Jane, who also participated in the demonstrations, echoed these concerns.The Daily Cardinal is identifying John and Jane by pseudonyms due to privacy concerns.
Jane came to the U.S. because she considers it the “land of opportunity,” and over the past few years, she has built a strong web of friends and family. But recently, her mind has been occupied by fears of being plucked off the street and never seeing the people she cares about again.
Jane voiced fear that her pro-Palestine stance and activism may get her deported, pointing to the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and pro-Palestine activist who ICE detained and arrested on March 8.
Compared to last spring, Jane feels far more paranoid about being able to express her opinion, especially online, and since many platforms changed their policies to be more in line with the Trump administration, and Jane expressed worry her social media could make her a target.
“I've just been trying to scrub my social presence of any pro-Palestine stuff,” Jane said. “I had to take down a GoFundMe that was on my page for my friend that lives in Palestine because I was worried that that would also be classified as antisemitic, and then they [would] take me back home.”
Where Jane saw academia as an opportunity to leave her country, John always planned on returning home. But for his colleagues, he said deportation means reconsidering their whole life plans.
“There are other people, too, from other places in the world where it's very hard to go back, and they came here as part of a long term plan,” John said. “That ability to speak and to be themselves in this country, if all of that is going away, then what do those people do in that circumstance?”
Budget cuts put job prospects further out of reach
For international students, academia is a pathway to securing a job, and if students don’t achieve a job in the U.S. after graduating, they pursue a higher degree to bolster their prospects, John said.
As an undergraduate, Jane is already thinking about graduate school as a way to make her more competitive. But as universities admit fewer graduate students and stop diversity, equity and inclusion programs, Jane is looking to other countries for opportunities.
“How things are unfolding in the United States, it seems like it's not a place that would welcome someone like me,” Jane said.
International students can’t legally stay in the country without either being enrolled in school or being employed. When summer break comes, many international students return to their home countries, which Jane said she would do, though she worried about returning in the fall.
For instance, U.S. Customs once randomly selected Jane for an additional screening when entering the U.S. in her freshman year. Jane believes they selected her because she’s from a predominantly Muslim country and fears heightened scrutiny by the Trump administration, citing his past actions like his 2017 travel ban on six Muslim-majority countries.
“I'm worried about going home because they might not let me back in,” Jane said.
UW-Madison recommended lowering the future amount of graduate students they take on in future semesters, and while John is secure in his department for now, he knows others that just barely missed the boat.
“I have a friend who got into a school and they're not able to fund this person, and that is because of all these funding issues that are happening,” John said.
John has been looking at universities to protect their international students, as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard did in 2020, where the two schools filed a joint lawsuit against a Trump administration policy preventing international students from studying in the U.S. if they only had online classes.
“I hope that the universities will not be afraid to fight this,” John said. “They have to embrace themselves and connect to each other and fight collectively, because individually, they don’t work.”
Jane is also looking for someone to protect her safety and ability to pursue her education.
“I want to know that the school or the state will be on my side because I am paying tuition, I am paying taxes,” Jane said. “I haven't done anything wrong or illegal that would mean for me to get my student visa revoked.”
