There are a lot of international students studying in the US. In the short term if a temporary ban is put on people entering from certain places, could students who went home for winter break find that they are unable to return for the spring semester?
In the longer term, will a lot of international students be denied permission to study here based upon where they are coming from, even temporarily?
Thoughts?
Obviously, we do not yet know what, if any, policy changes will happen.
However, if fear of policy changes or other things (e.g. anti-immigrant or anti-race/ethnicity/religion discrimination) based on previous rhetoric causes fewer international students and other visitors and immigrants to come, that may still be considered a desirable outcome by those who oppose immigration or fear the US becoming majority non-white in the future.
I’ve heard it depends on how good their grades are, however, I don’t know if that is true. I’ve heard so many crazy rumors. I don’t really think immigration is going to be affected that much. Politicians say things to get elected and find out later it’s either too expensive or unrealistic to implement. If your son or daughter is coming from a Middle Eastern country to study, it might be good to talk with an immigration lawyer.
@Crayola13 That’s not true about grades, at least, not at this point, since there are no official policies and wont be until the new administration takes office. I feel so awful for all immigrants. Besides the well-founded fears of being targeted in general, their lives are on hold right now.
ucb – I wasn’t liking your comment so much as agreeing with it.
Anything anyone says right now is purely speculation and given the volatility and compulsive nature of our soon-to-be leader, it’s even more up in the air.
Although, given the recent incident at OSU, any fears of deportation and/or blocked entry into the US are not unfounded. They’re just speculation is all. :-S
It will take time for any ‘extreme vetting’ policies to be put into place, certainly not by the start of the next semester. However, if the student has previously overstayed a visa, has ties to radical groups or has committed a crime, then there may be blocked entry.
Well, if his words are to be believed, students from India will be allowed to stay. 
http://www.dawn.com/news/1245818
^^ Big if.
Tatin, immigrants who’ve committed crimes are already being deported in record numbers.
Can there be an executive order to halt everything until the “extreme vetting” policies can be put into place? Or is Congress necessary for halting everything?
To halt what? Universities from accepting foreign students? Consulates worldwide Issuing visas?
Don’t forget, “extreme vetting” (whatever that means) will require more staff. And T already says, there will be a hiring freeze on federal workers. So who will be doing this extreme vetting?
Given the fact that T has backpedaled on nearly everything he promised during the campaign, this is a very premature thread.
^To halt students and others from coming in from “terrorism compromised countries”. It doesn’t matter whether universities have accepted someone if they can’t get on a plane bound here or cross at a border.
Reviving NSEERS seems to have been mentioned or speculated as a possibility. It was used from 2002 to 2011, but was deactivated in 2011 by removing all source countries from the list after it was found to be ineffective (0 terrorism related convictions out of 93,000 cases generated).
https://www.aclu.org/blog/speakeasy/homeland-security-suspends-ineffective-discriminatory-immigration-program
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Entry-Exit_Registration_System
This is the current policy. If you have previously overstayed a visa or if you have committed a crime, you will not be issued another visa to enter the US.
Don’t you think that should be the rule? If you didn’t follow the requirements the first time, should you be allowed back in the US to violate your visa again? If you belong to a radical group, are you entitled to a visa? (No, you aren’t)
The state department/homeland security have the power to grant visas or deny them. Sure, there can be an executive order to start extreme vetting, to limit visas from certain countries, to increase the requirements to get a student visa. Extreme vetting will not require more staff, they’ll just stop issuing the visas at the same rate they have been. If you’ve ever applied for something from the government during a time of government shut down you’ll know how this goes - you wait until your application gets to the top of the pile, and you wait until the office is open again. And wait, and wait some more. Some field offices used to take 2 months to process citizenship paperwork, others took 2 years. All you can do is wait.
If you want a visa to study in France and the French government goes on strike or has a hiring freeze, do you think they really care that your visa is delayed? The school that wants your tuition might care, but the government doesn’t. you aren’t entitled to anything.
@sylvan8798 terrorism-compromised countries? What EXACTLY does that mean? England, France and Germany all have had terrorists living there and killing people (or trying to) in their own countries and in the US.
^that wasn’t my term, katliamom. I’m concerned that some of my students might go home and not be allowed to return. One of them is from Pakistan.
I don’t know if that is something that could realistically happen or not, but my faith in the idea that things that make no sense are not going to happen was destroyed recently.
“my faith in the idea that things that make no sense are not going to happen was destroyed recently” – LOL, I hear you there!
Advise your Pakistani student to return to the US before January 20. Until then, the new president has no power. And he’s just recently proclaimed his admiration for Pakistan, so his attention may be turned elsewhere, as is his wont.
Yeah, this. So to answer the original question, who knows what’s going to happen with international students, or anything else for that matter.
Any student who is here on a visa runs the risk that he will not be able to return if he leaves. It’s not likely to happen, it is assumed nothing will go wrong and the student will be allowed to return to finish for the length of the visa, but who knows what could happen? Don’t we all worry when standing in that customs line, that some form isn’t correct, that some political crisis has just happened? When I traveled to China years ago, it was just after the US had accidentally bombed a Chinese Embassy in Europe. Things were tense.
I read yesterday that the Obama administration is suspending processing of citizenship applications, including swearing in new citizens, because the FBI process to clear the names and background checks isn’t working. Until it is, no more new citizens under that program (I assume other types of citizenship will be allowed if the FBI check isn’t required, like adopted children) until the FBI fixes the problem.
OMG…It’s happening now!!! @sylvan8798 .