International Student Says Visa Changes Leave Them ‘Stuck’ in U.S.

The seal of the State Department is photographed at the Washington Passport Agency, July 12, 2016, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

International students across the United States are confronting heightened uncertainty as federal visa policies tighten and travel restrictions expand. In August, international student arrivals to the U.S. fell by 19% compared with the previous year—the steepest decline outside the pandemic era, according to federal arrival data analyzed by The New York Times. The drop follows visa processing delays, expanded travel bans affecting 19 countries, heightened social media vetting and temporary visa cancellations that were later reversed. 

Universities nationwide reported a 17% decrease in new international student enrollments last fall, with some campuses seeing undergraduate declines of 25% or more. At Santa Clara University, four students have had their SEVIS records terminated or visas revoked, limiting their ability to remain in or reenter the country last April. 

Against that backdrop, The Santa Clara’s John Jamison spoke with one international student about how the shifting policies have affected their academic plans and personal life. The student is anonymous over safety concerns tied to their immigration status and fears of potential scrutiny or retaliation. 

Student: Originally, I’m from Europe, and I have lived almost my entire life in Europe. I do have citizenship in two countries. Although I’ve never been, by blood, I do currently possess citizenship from a country that is currently on the United States’ travel ban list. Thanks to my years living and working in Europe though, I was able to successfully make it to the U.S. to work on my education here, and I'm very grateful to be here in the United States. 

Jamison: It seems this status you just mentioned has put you in a very particular situation. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

Student: This past winter break, two days before I was supposed to fly back home to see my family, I received an email from the department that helps international students like me, strongly advising me not to not leave the country. As I am now aware, a new memo was released and it banned pretty much anyone holding citizenship from certain countries, regardless of whether they have a valid visa or not, if they are a U.S citizen, or even if they carry it as a second passport like me. Essentially, any ties at all to one of those countries, is banned, and any attempt to enter the country, or even reenter would be denied. Had I left to see my family over break, I would not be sitting here today.

Jamison: Given your student visa, you would have been able to reenter the country for school?

Student: No actually. The school saved my academic career by warning me, because when it was, I think the first week of 2026, I heard stories of a few students who left before the internal memo was leaked, and ever since, they have been stuck outside the country. So, no, even with my student visa, I wouldn’t have been able to come back to complete my degree. 

Jamison: Can you tell me how you’re feeling about this situation, and how you maybe intend to deal with being stuck here for an uncertain amount of time. 

Student: I feel scared, demotivated and annoyed. Scared that I will not be able to see my family indefinitely, and I also always have to look over my shoulders and my back to make sure I’m always following the rules. I don’t feel like I can even speak freely, in the land of free speech. The government has been announcing a lot of radical changes every now and then, which puts me in a difficult spot. It does take a lot of time and, you know, sidetracks me from my education. And I'm also annoyed because I have to uh navigate all these changes myself. When I was back home, I generally would always get announcements and changes directly from the embassy themselves. However, now I'm pretty much all alone and the government is not communicating through official channels anymore. I've been getting communications through, let's say, unofficial channels. And you know, all the new changes, they’ve basically caused a lot of confusion, it’s distracting for me, and it is giving me a weird and just honestly a bad experience in my time in the U.S. And, you know, it’s honestly really sad to me because, whereas normally I was able to see my family during breaks, but as of now, it doesn't seem like I'll have a chance to see them for, I mean, who knows when? Given current laws, this could be a year, or it could be 5 years with the way the visas work. And given my family's background, you know, carrying a banned passport, they won't be able to also come see me in the U.S. They're probably going to be missing my graduation, and other key milestones in my lifetime at this moment. And you know, my ability to travel abroad wasn’t even a problem just a couple of months ago.

Jamison: You’ve described how it's making you feel, but how have you been able to navigate all of this by yourself so far?

Student: Personally, I mean, I’m just going to be honest, I haven’t been taking it very well, considering that I have never really had to experience something like this ever in my life. I’ve lived in a lot of different countries in my lifetime, and every time and every country, all the rules have pretty much been straightforward and they don't change every week or so like this. I largely try to work with others who can help me navigate all of this better, but ultimately I don’t think anyone knows what to do. Pretty much everyone is overwhelmed. The lawyers I’ve talked to are clueless as well. They’ve all told me that there’s too much going on, and even they can't follow all the changes. 

Jamison: Can I ask you, what have you heard from other students? Do you know any other international students who are dealing with the same issue? 

Student: Well I'm one of the more uncommon scenarios where I'm from a country which has basically been banned, but I can say that there are a lot of feelings of uncertainty, and you know, there’s a lot of worry in the air. The atmosphere has become toxic since nobody really knows what's going on. And the one feeling we have in common is the demotivation. I know a lot of students who come from great backgrounds, and they’ve chosen to invest in the U.S. for their education, but it seems like they no longer want to stay in the U.S. And, I know a lot of students, including myself, wanted to stay in the U.S. for two to three years, you know, for our extension period, to basically gain some experience by working at some company or doing our masters here, but given all the changes that have taken place, not many of us want to stay here. Personally, I do not feel safe or comfortable being in the U.S. anymore. 

Jamison: You say that you don’t feel safe in the U.S., and when you first chose to come here for school that you didn’t foresee your experience being like it is currently?

Student: Correct. I mean, when I chose to come to the U.S., I had all options open on the table. I had the ability to go study in the UK, the Netherlands, anywhere in Europe pretty much, Japan, etc, but I chose here. The United States seemed like a great choice because of Silicon Valley, its competitive work environment, the employability, and it seemed optimal for opening a business, or gaining experience that I can take back home to Europe. But now, it just doesn’t feel safe any longer. You can really feel it in everything that continues to happen. I’m not able to leave the country, to go see my family, the work extension that allows international students to work for some time after graduation is basically no longer an option, and just recently I’ve gotten notifications that I am potentially being investigated, reinterviewed and revetted again. While I haven’t been investigated yet, I know that other students have been, and it keeps happening too.

Jamison: I’d like to know a little more about these investigations and what you mean when you say ‘it keeps happening.’

Student: They really ask for everything, even bank information and statement accounts to verify that they can afford living in the U.S. which is a little bit weird. But It wasn’t like this up until the past year or so, and It just feels like they're buying time. I mean, it just feels like they’re buying time, looking for new ways, new policies to try and put pressure on us, you know? To basically make our lives harder, make us want to leave the U.S. My worst fear is that maybe they’re wanting to look for any small reason, or to create an excuse to just straight up deport us out of the country. After all, all of these new changes and proposals just seem to be making life harder for us. For example, they’re planning on reducing the stay period for after graduation from 60 days to 30 days. That’s barely enough time for the government to process important information and applications that I need during that time period. It does feel like being in the U.S. is just not worth it anymore.

Jamison: Earlier in the discussion it sounded like you may have envisioned yourself staying in the U.S. after you graduated. I imagine that this has created turbulence in your expectations and plans, especially regarding the current moment?

Student: Initially, I planned on staying in the U.S. for a few years after I graduate. You know I get some experience, and stay with all the friends I’ve made here. I hoped to help build my career and then, you know, move internationally, maybe even start my business here. But given all the changes and, you know, the situation right now and how it seems to be going, all my options are currently off the table. I'm not able to get my authorization to work legally after graduation. I'm not allowed to stay legally, not even for 60 days now. So all my options have been stripped away from me. And at this point, I feel no sane person in this situation would want to risk anything to stay here in the U.S. It’s no longer worth it, especially compared to back home, where I have flexibility and freedom. I mean, I don't even think it’s worth investing in the U.S. anymore either. My family does business here in the United States, and I know family friends back home, successful business owners, who are beginning to pull out their investments in the U.S given all the policy changes and instability. I think Silicon Valley, if not the U.S., was basically known for being this global hub of innovators and ideas, but now it seems that this foundation has been swiftly stripped in a way that I don’t think many were prepared for. It’s just a lot, and I think it can just be overwhelming. All in all, I’m very grateful that I’ve gotten to come and study here, and I’m grateful that I’ve been fortunate enough to have the resources to deal with these issues, but I think it might be important to speak out the growing concerns that many of us are having. I think there are a lot of people who are stuck in similar situations, and I think we’re all having to kind of ask ourselves ‘Where do we go?’ and ‘What do we do?’ I know that at the end of the day, I’m fortunate enough to have a back up plan back home, but I couldn't possibly imagine what this must be like for those who don’t.