Future of International Students

By Grant Oh

University High School

Earlier in July, President Trump announced a new policy targeted towards foreign students under F-1 and M-1 Visas: return to in-person classes or leave the U.S. With the increasing number of cases and high possibility of virtual classes, foreign students are now left perplexed with the decision that might determine their education fate. 

Some schools intend to return back to a traditional setting, despite the speculation of a second imminent outbreak. On the other hand, many prestigious schools, such as Harvard, have weighed the fact that schools may be fully virtual throughout the year. 

“I think it’s ridiculous. I think it’s an easy way out. And I think they oughta be ashamed of themself,” Trump said.

Students are given really two choices, both of which tie into whether they want to be safe or not. With many schools being told to open for fall despite a weak idea as to how the pandemic will pan out, foreign students cannot do anything but depend on the virus subsiding. Already we have seen restaurants open then close due to rises in cases. Schools are no different. Though less children are vulnerable to extreme illnesses from the coronavirus, according to the Mayo Clinic, they are still able to contract the disease. If schools open, this would mean that there may be an added number of cases as students contact family members and other adults.

Students, however, are not the only ones impacted by Trump’s new policy. Schools themselves have responded to Trump’s claims, acknowledging that their student population comprises many international students. Schools like Harvard and MIT have, in fact, sued the Trump administration later on July 8th regarding the “deportation” of foreign students. Speaking from an economic standpoint, foreign students also generate about $32 billion annually and support more than 300,000 jobs in the U.S.

To consider the alternative, which is that students return back to their homelands, would mean that many would be put in areas of socioeconomic and political crisis. This is not what many students want.