Trump Immigration Policies Impact International Education

President Donald Trump has descended upon federal immigration policy, releasing a flurry of executive orders that affect global education. The rolling out of these orders has triggered concern over how the policies may play out on campus, where there are over 500 international students from more than 70 nations. As Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) make arrests in New York state, faculty and students have raised concerns over the potential of immigration enforcement agents entering campus. 

ICE has never been on SUNY New Paltz’s campus, however, schools are no longer off-limits to immigration enforcement agents due to Trump rescinding a Biden policy that made certain locations “sanctuaries.” The former policy instructed agents to refrain from detaining people at or near locations that includes schools, places of worship, healthcare facilities and shelters. 

“The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement and instead trusts them to use common sense,” the Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in statement after revoking the Biden-era policy.

An Office of the President email sent to all students on Jan. 29 addressed the changes to federal immigration policies. Attributed to Chief Diversity Officer Tanhena Pacheco Dunn and President Darrell Wheeler, the email stated that in the event of a warrant from federal immigration officials, the administration will refer to University Police before taking any action. University police departments do not enforce federal immigration laws, unless legally mandated to or under court order.

“If a warrant or other duly executed legal mandate is presented, no action should be taken until after referring this to UPD and receiving guidance,” Pacheco Dunn and Wheeler said. 

Pacheco Dunn and Wheeler’s statement also said the school will “continue the longstanding practice of allowing undocumented individuals to pay resident tuition.”

A group of eight professors across academic departments addressed Pacheco Dunn and Wheeler in a Jan. 28 email to all faculty, inquiring if campus has a “non-cooperation immigration policy” if ICE agents come on campus. 

On Feb. 12, the U.S. State Department implemented a temporary 15-day pause on federal funding for current and future grant payments, hamstringing federal programs students rely on to go abroad. Impacted programs include the Fulbright Exchange Program as well as the Gilman International Scholarship program — a widely applied for scholarship by New Paltz students in need of funds to study abroad. 

Cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) also impact funding for international students coming to New Paltz. For example, prospective students from the American University in Cairo receive merit scholarships to study in New Paltz from the USAID. 

International students study throughout the university’s divisions and majors. Many students arrive as part of an exchange program with New Paltz students.

“If you have a class in political science, for example, and everybody in your class is from New York State, it’s going to be a more limited discussion,” said Beth Vargas, the executive director of the Center for International Programs. “If you have students from other countries in that class, that just broadens the perspective of everyone within the class.”

While international students can enrich class experiences with intercultural perspectives, they also bring in revenue and make certain New Paltz programs possible. 

“On campus, even this year, it’s about $3 million that international students pay in tuition, fees, living expenses. They pay everything that other students do.” Vargas said, “But because they’re from out of state, they pay about two and a half times or more, depending on their program, than a New York State student would. That’s a lot of revenue that comes to New Paltz specifically, and to the United States more generally.” 

Without international students, programs like the computer science graduate degree would not have enough enrollment to operate. International student enrollment is pivotal for fields that are low and under-enrolled, enabling essential academic programs.

They work as teaching and graduate assistants on campus, perform important lab research and assist faculty in doctoral programs. Some faculty now teach on campus after coming as students to the U.S. 

“In every single division of the university, we have international faculty who came as students,” Vargas said. 

According to Vargas, New Paltz and the nation should be seeing an increase in international student enrollment that Trump may hinder. His rhetoric and action impact the U.S.’s standing in global education, and scholars and institutions may lose interest in collaborating with U.S. universities and research institutes. 

“We’re coming out of COVID, and there has been, especially at the post-graduate level, this pent-up demand of students who finished an undergraduate level abroad wanting to come to the U.S. for graduate study,” she said. 

Increased restrictions on international student enrollment in countries including Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom should also help bolster international students coming to the U.S. 

“Those countries have put in place restrictions on students studying there, and so they’re more likely now to come to the United States if we provide a welcoming opportunity for them,” Vargas said. 

Trump’s executive orders often include severe rhetoric, like an order mandating stricter visa vetting that will likely affect the issuance of study visas, titled “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.” Vargas advises people to “get past the rhetoric or inflammatory language — even if it seems very harsh — and look at the action or changes mandated.”  

Vargas advises internal students to read updates from International Student Services (ISS), which works with professional organizations that advocate for international students and go to ISS staff with any concerns.

“Don’t be afraid to ask,” she said. “Read your emails, read communication from the office and from legitimate sources.” 

Trump’s first presidency can provide a blueprint for people working in international education on how to navigate the uncertainty unleashed in the sector. Eight years ago, he instituted a ban on U.S. travel from seven majority Muslim countries, cancelled thousands of Chinese students’ study visas and suspended the issuing of post-study work visas, known as H1-Bs. 

International students have been the target of scams in the past, including fraudulent emails and calls extorting money by deportation threats. 

Earlier in the month, Philadelphia police charged a 22-year-old Temple University student and other suspects for impersonating ICE agents on campus, wearing shirts that said “POLICE” and “ICE” in white lettering while unsuccessfully attempting to enter a residence hall. 

“They are kind of vulnerable, especially now, when there’s so much disinformation and more heightened concern,” Vargas said.