Will Trump Take On Misuse of Student Visas?
Eddie West and Anna Esaki-Smith
January 6, 2025
Trump’s expected immigration crackdown may expose international education’s hidden flaws, Eddie West and Anna Esaki-Smith write.
Based on what happened the last time Donald Trump was president, the international education sector has a lot to fear. Travel bans on several Muslim-majority countries and a general unwelcoming stance toward international students did a lot to damage sentiment even before the pandemic quashed mobility outright.
But this second time around, there’s a lot more at stake. With the U.S. hosting a record-high 1.126 million students from abroad—largely due to growth in graduate students rather than new undergraduates—Trump’s expected crackdown might expose a dirty little secret: widespread misuse of student visas.
