by Akemi Tamanaha, Associate Editor
A recent report from Stop AAPI Hate is shedding light on the fears and experiences of international students in the U.S., amidst growing hostility from the Trump administration.
“[I’m scared of] ending up in indefinite detention or being deported to some other country than my home country,” one student said.
Some international students have become less politically active after seeing ICE attempt to arrest and deport their peers, like Yunseo Chung, for voicing support for Palestine.
“It feels hostile to live in the US. I became inactive with any kind of political activities and don’t feel I belong here,” another student said.
The report, “Unsafe, Unwelcome and Uncertain,” draws on data from a national survey of 87 graduate and undergraduate international students.
The report found that 89% of the international students surveyed fear for their visa or residency status. Another 81% report negative mental or physical health effects due to ongoing policy threats and 53% said they feel “not at all safe” or “not very safe” in the U.S.
Stop AAPI Hate’s Director of Data and Research, Stephanie Chan, told AsAmNews that researchers worked with over 1,000 student organizations to find participants.
To protect respondents, researchers did not collect any personally identifying information.
“But there was a lot of trepidation, I think, in filling out any kind of survey, giving any kind of information, and just fear of you know that anything might be used against them,” Chan said.
Many students expressed concern about being surveilled in the survey. According to the report, 86% said they “changed how they use social media due to fear of surveillance or deportation.”
72 percent of international students identify are Asian American or Pacific Islander students. Stop AAPI’s report found that Chinese international students in particular are concerned about being “watched, silenced, or targeted as potential security threats.”
“My worry is that … [t]hey are going to build a camp and put all of us in there like what the government did to the Japanese during. Make no mistakes. This is a targeted attack,” one student said.
Many of the survey respondents also warned prospective international students against studying in the U.S.
“Run, don’t come,” one student said.
Chan told AsAmNews she also has a personal connection to the research. Her parents came to the U.S. as international students, eventually building a life and family.
“And so whenever I see these words and hear the words of international students, I imagine my, you know, 18-year-old parents, and when they came to the US with basically nothing, not knowing anyone. These students are in that same situation, but now the climate is totally hostile,” she said.
Many international students existing in that hostile climate are only being provided with basic support from their universities. 77% said their university provide information about visa policies and travel guidlines, and 78% said their university offers mental health services. But only 38% said their university offered legal aid.
Chan was also suprised that less than half (48%) of respondents said their university was providing guidance on how to complete their academic studies.
“I think both the need for legal aid as well as the need for guidance on completing studies were the things, the gaps, that really stood out to us,”
Stop AAPI has recommened that universities provide international students “with trusted legal information and pro bono or low-cost services, so no one is left to navigate shifting federal policies alone.” The organization made several other recommendations for universities, like clear and consistent communication surrounding visa policies and status.
Chan hopes that people can view the concerns of international students as part of the larger threat to immigration.
“It’s a war on people of color and immigrants right now, and this is just one of the avenues by which the administration is trying to prevent people of color from being part of America and being in this country,” she said.
The full report and list of recommendations can be found here.
Registration is closed for Common Ground: Building Together conference and gala award banquet in San Francisco on January 24. A shoutout to our planning committee: Jane Chin, Frank Mah, Jeannie Young, Akemi Tamanaha, Nathan Soohoo, Mark Young, Dave Liu, and Yiming Fu.
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