Editorial: Trump stoops to new low

The Trump Administration must realise that such a hammer-like approach towards legal migrants will ultimately hurt US interests

United States President Donald Trump’s war on immigrants continues. The latest decision to halt student visa appointments to facilitate enhanced social media vetting of international applicants constitutes a new low even by the standards set by the maverick Republican leader. Trump’s quixotic drive to clean up campuses has triggered another wave of panic among students preparing to apply for American universities. The Trump Administration must realise that such a hammer-like approach towards legal migrants will ultimately hurt US interests. The American embassies around the world have been asked to stop scheduling appointments for student visas as the government prepares to expand social media vetting of applicants. The move comes against the backdrop of an extensive crackdown on some of America’s elite universities, including Harvard. Trump and his loyalists view these prestigious institutions as too left-wing and accuse them of failing to combat antisemitism when pro-Palestinian protests broke out on campuses. It must be pointed out that these Ivy League and other sought-after universities rely on foreign students for a significant chunk of their funding as international scholars often pay higher tuition fees. The Trump Administration had already enhanced its vetting of student social media, a move linked to a broader crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campuses. Last month, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that it would consider antisemitic activity on social media and the physical harassment of Jewish individuals as grounds for denying immigration benefit requests. The White House has accused some US universities of allowing pro-Palestinian activism on campus to be hijacked by antisemitism.

The latest move will adversely impact the prospects of Indian applicants as they constitute the largest chunk of international students seeking admission to US universities. In the academic year 2023–24, a record 3.31 lakh Indian students pursued higher education in the US, making India the top sender of international students. This represents a 23 per cent increase from 2022-23 when 2.68 lakh Indian students were enrolled. Indian students accounted for approximately 29% of the total international student population in the US during this period. There is a disturbing trend of rising visa rejections for student applicants. The overall F-1 (student category) visa rejection rate for all international students reached 41 per cent in the 2023-24 fiscal year, the highest in a decade. For Indians, there was a 38% drop in student visas issued between January and September 2024 compared to the same period in the previous year. As part of a broader crackdown, the Trump Administration has frozen hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for universities and moved to deport students, while revoking thousands of visas for others. However, many of these actions have been blocked by courts. Universities have accused the Trump Administration of trying to infringe on free speech. Critics say the new policy on social media vetting represents a further violation of the rights.

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