Parents and students concerned over restrictions on student visa to U.S.

The recent restrictions on entry to higher educational institutions in the United States of America have left parents and their wards anxious. 

Earlier this year, a few students who staged protests against Israel’s attack on Gaza were arrested, and an Indian student self-deported to escape arrest.

The US government came down heavily on higher educational institutions. While most institutions toed the government’s line, Harvard University stood its ground. This resulted in the government freezing the university’s federal funds. Refusing to follow US President Donald Trump’s diktat to not admit ‘hostile international students’ resulted in further fund cuts.

The university has gone to court against the government’s decision.

However, the government upped the ante by cancelling the university’s student and exchange visitor programmes, besides preventing students from enrolling themselves in the university by asking them to transfer to other institutions.

To add to the already escalating concerns, the Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered US embassies world over to verify student applicants’ social media profiles before scheduling interviews for visas.

Anand Kannan, managing director of AdmitEDGE, which offers online training and consultation for higher studies abroad, says there is no reason to panic. “For people who are watching the events, it is not surprising. It is a small hiccup. But people have extraordinary fears,” he says, pointing out that Donald Trump’s election manifesto was clear. In 2017 when Mr. Trump became President there was panic, he recalls.

“A country like the US cannot stop issuing visas forever. They have genuine pressure, genuinely need talented people for which they depend on foreign students. Indian students should be mindful that the job market has changed as well,” he said, adding that the situation would return to normalcy.

“It is absolutely important for parents and students to not panic, arrive at short-sighted conclusions, or act out of fear based reactions. The global need for talent from India is long-term and a must-have, in almost every field of industry and service,” he says.

Tarun Gangwar, chief operating officer, Tetr College of Business, says Indian students must look at other emerging markets that make up a large portion of the global study abroad community. They must prioritise flexibility and global mobility.

An alumna of Harvard University recalled her student days from 26 years ago. She says at that time, students had staged a sit-in, lobbying for better wages for class IV employees. However, they had never faced action by the government, unless it was a law-and-order situation. “Never has the status of international students been threatened in this manner. This is a completely new area,” she says of the current move to expel international students from campus. 

G. Ravindran, professor at Central University, Tiruvarur, says there are similarities between the present events and incidents during Margaret Thatcher’s rule in Britain in the 1970s. “Trump is following the path laid by Margaret Thatcher with regard to cutting funds to public universities. They cannot accept public intellectualism,” he says. Both are neoliberals and elected leaders, but are dictatorial, he adds.

Mrs. Thatcher cut funds for higher education as the Left-leaning intellectuals were against her policies. Things got out of hand when Oxford University refused to honour her with a doctorate degree. “The damage caused by her has been devastating for universities across the world,” Mr. Ravindran says. 

It remains to be seen how these moves of the Trump administration would impact Indian students aspiring to go to the US for higher education and research.