Trump’s New Immigration Policy May Affect Overseas Students

As per the words of Henry Barkey who is an international relations officer,“ the travel ban introduced by the Trump administration is supposed to be a part of the expansion plan of the government’s overall policy which would result in reduced immigration.” Not only this, Barkey noted, if the Immigration process is barred from these specific countries, it will majorly affect people’s interest and desires who wishes to be a part of the nation and immigrate legally.

Barkey marked that a majority of people travel through aircraft, which is something that can be controlled without any trouble. The people who have the desire to immigrate to the US legally are coming here to become American Citizens. This is something any nation would love to see. Also, people who are flying from other countries, especially for immigration purposes, tend to be the best and the brightest.

So, the new immigration policy and travel ban imposed by the Trump administration will be an overall loss for the United States. “.As per the numbers of 2019, 1555 international students are studying in Lehigh. Out of the numbers, 430 students are pursuing undergraduate courses.

As per the reports from the office of International students and scholars, the highest number of students are from China, India and Iran with 630, 73 and 31 students respectively. 

International Students Might Get Stress with the New Immigration Restrictions

The new travel ban policy imposed by trump government might give stress to international students studying at Lehigh University. And it might result in a reduction in the population of international students.

According to the words of Samba Dieng who is the director of the office of international student and scholars, the universities have seen an overall drop in the number of enrollment of international students over last three years. This drop is almost 17 % since 2015.

Read More: Five Employment Immigration Developments in US, 2020

However, there has been a steady increase in the number of international students in undergraduate courses in the same period. Dieng also marked that international students have a variety of options to choose from in the current educational scenario. He has not attributed this drop to the current administration or travel ban.

Not only this, Dieng stated that countries like China are welcoming international students on a larger scale. The nation is currently the second most popular destination for international students after Africa. However, this was the position which was held by the United States. 

In between the increasing tension between the United States and Iran, the office of international students and scholars have sent an official mail to students who are from Iran. In the mail, they have shown their full support, along with all the needed resources. Dieng has especially said that no students have been troubled in the entire process.

They have not reached out to the officials to discuss any adverse outcomes of the current American policies regarding immigration. However, some people believe that international students are facing trouble because of immigration policies. Dieng further noted that anyone would lose confidence if they are stuck in diplomatic situations just like tensions are between the US and Iran. 

Final Words

Talking about a case study, Hassan Al Khawaldeh aged 21, who is an international student from Jordan, visited the US before taking admissions in any university. After his visit, he was certain about his admission to the school of the US.

He noted that he has not felt uncomfortable or indifferent from being an international student even though there has been increasing tensions and regulations against immigrants and increasing heat in the political scenario. He also showed his gratitude and happiness to attend US universities.

He is certain that if president trump is re-elected, the restrictions on immigration will not end soon and will continue. Hassan further added that in a developed country like the United States, immigrants are an essential part of the growing economy. Immigrants are hard workers, and the current immigration restrictions will harm the growing potential of the United States.