WASHINGTON (AP) — Since coming from China as a boarding school teenager, Bob Zen has imagined building a career in the US. But when he prepared to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Thursday, it felt like the final chapter of his life in America.
Zen said he is rethinking his plans for the Trump administration’s pledge. It will be revoked aggressively Chinese student visa. After completing his master’s degree in science and management, he is considering moving to Europe. Or go back to China.
“I’m worried about working here,” Zeng said.
Many international students come to the US in the hopes of gaining work experience, returning to their home country, or pursuing a career in the US, but the intense scrutiny of international students – and the signs that formal career paths for them could be shut down lead to rethinking their plans.
Extend the basis for beyond measures already taken by the government – Finishing student abilities Added to study in the US New examination If you have a student visa, you will be redirected Block foreigners registration Harvard University has increased the likelihood that key candidates will end a program that encourages international students to stay and gain work experience.
Approximately 240,000 of the 1.1 million student visas in the US have practical training in options. This is a one-year post-graduation period where you are permitted to work in a subject related to your degree. For graduates in science, mathematics and technology, it can last up to three years.
Nominee for President Donald Trump’s US Citizenship and Immigration Director, Joseph Edlow, said at a May 21 confirmation hearing he hopes to finish permits for graduate work for international students.
“What I want to see is essentially a regulatory and subregulatory program that allows F-1 students to remove the ability to permit employment beyond the ages of school,” Edrow said, referring to the F-1 visas that most international students in the United States attend college.
The program provides international students with a foothold for careers in the US
opportunity Get a career experience The appeal of studying here has long been portrayed in American companies, particularly in technology and other fields dominated by American companies. Many people are hoping to take part in the H-1B visa lottery and be selected as one of the employer-sponsored visas that provide a path to permanent residency in the United States.
Fanta AW, CEO of NAFSA, who represents international educators, said threats to practical training opportunities will have long-term consequences for the US in attracting international students.
“We’re alienating global talent at our own expense,” AW said.
Like many international students, Marco, 29, finds himself glued to the news due to growing vigilance. His optional practical training expired in a month and he applied for an extension but received no response. A tech company lawyer working in New York City advised him to carry evidence of his legal status in his wallet.
“The message being sent now is: You are not one of us and we are going to drive you away,” Marco said.
He has lived in the United States for a decade, spreading to university and graduate school, but his family and friends returning home encourage him to leave. His hope is that he can obtain the OPT extension and then apply for an H-1B visa to continue his life in the US, but he is also concerned about anti-immigration sentiment and who will be targeted next.
Guy, an HIV researcher at Mount Sinai Hospital, refused to provide her last name for fear of retaliation and came to the United States in 2018 for a doctoral program at New York University. He is currently in his second year at OPT and will need to return to the UK if the programme is finished. He still feels welcome in New York City, but he says he feels there is a “war with immigration in this country.”
“Now is not a particularly attractive place to keep science up,” he said.
Foreign students are targeted in several ways
In his first administration, Trump came to mind Reduction optBut that didn’t happen. During the campaign, he suggested giving a green card to foreign students who graduated from American universities. It is a sentiment that students and educators want to show a more welcoming policy.
However, his administration cracked down on international students in several ways.
In April, US immigration customs enforcement began. End your legal status of people with a student visa that appeared in the police encounter database. Many people were caught up in the effort, got caught up in the OPT and had to risk violating their jobs in regards to their jobs without legal approval. Finally ice Restored student status After extensive legal agenda, however, no one chose to leave the country preemptively, fearing deportation.
In mid-May, some graduates received letters threatening to end their position if they did not break employment records. The letter gave them the opportunity to correct the reporting issues, but sent another wave of uncertainty through international alumni.
This week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the government would move to cancel visas for Chinese students studying in “important” fields.
Yurong “Luanna” Jiang, a Chinese student who graduated from Harvard on Thursday, said in an interview that he hoped to remain in the US for several years but was worried about the Trump administration’s crackdown on visas.
“As far as plans go, I think it’s all in the air at this point,” said Jiang, who is now open to going anywhere in the world involved in international development. “It’s hard to say what’s going to happen at this point.”
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Gecker was reported from San Francisco, Toness and Michael Casey contributed from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Collin Binkley from Washington.
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