Universities actively trying to recruit international students are facing “challenging times” amidst disputes in the nation’s capitol.
“There is still a lot of uncertainty regarding changes to official U.S. policies,” said Linda Melville, Associate Director for International Student & Scholar Services at UNM. “National dialogues are currently still very speculative, but the perception globally is that the U.S. is interested in placing greater restrictions on immigration.”
Changes to immigration policy vary, from the newly proposed Raise Act which seeks to reduce levels of legal immigration to the United States by 50 percent, to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
DACA allows individuals who come to the United States as children and meet several guidelines to request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years.
Although the Raise Act does not directly focus on the international student/scholar population, changing U.S. policies toward immigration in general creates many questions and concerns within the global community and may discourage international students and scholars from pursuing an education within the United States, said Danielle Gilliam, UNM Global Education Office Administrative Officer.
“These shifting policies could potentially create unfavorable perspectives abroad for our students studying in another country,” Gilliam said. “It is still early in this political context to forecast how this will play out in specific terms or what it means for UNM, but this is a topic our department is actively monitoring.”
The GEO remains committed to working with collaborators across campus to create an environment inclusive and welcoming for the students and scholars who come to UNM and to supporting our students who study abroad, she said, adding that the underlying value in international education is to foster more mutual and cross-cultural understanding through these points of contact on campus and throughout the world.
Over the last several months, GEO has been actively responding to the concerns of international students related to the initial executive orders of the Trump administration, Melville said.
“Our students studying here are generally concerned about the ability to complete their studies and what their future prospects might be for employment in the United States,” she said.
UNM’s Global Education Office website is featuring the letter “New Executive Order on Immigration,” issued March 6, 2017, giving a glimpse of some of the support the GEO is offering for international students and scholars.
Additionally, GEO has worked to create a campus-wide message in celebration of their commitment to global understanding and diversity with the campaign, #YouAreWelcomeHere. The UNM-produced #YouAreWelcomeHere video currently has 192K views on the UNM Facebook Page.
Another action taken by educators is that of law professor Michael Olivas at the University of Houston Law Center and Santa Fe, along with over 100 law professors to create a letter to send Trump outlining the legal authority he has to preserve DACA.
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President Obama was urged five years ago to establish such an option, and the hope was that the actions would be preserved under this administration, Olivas said.
“His proposed travel ban, the unnecessary ‘extreme vetting’ and other such initiatives, as well as his rhetoric, all point to a less-welcome climate for international students,” Olivas said in regards to some of President Trump’s changes and claims to make major changes to immigration policy. “It also makes the administrative steps more complicated and will delay students from enrolling and working afterwards.”
As a professor, Olivas said he is afraid international students will go to the UK, Australia, Canada and other more welcoming colleges and countries, and the U.S. will lose this important source of diplomacy as well as student and faculty resources.
“The president has no real role in your education, so consider coming to the U.S., where you will be welcomed by educators and U.S. residents,” Olivas said.
UNM graduate Shabab Saad originates from Bangladesh and now lives in the United States, studying chemical engineering at UNM.
Saad is currently looking to prepare for grad school applications and said his choice to attend UNM for his degree was strongly connected to cost, weather, environment and culture.
As a graduate of UNM, Saad said the classes and amount of coursework assigned in his department are extremely challenging.
“People feel like, ‘Yes, I’m going to go to UNM. I’m going to graduate,’ but that’s not all the case,” he said. “It’s challenging over here, and that’s what makes us different, that if you’re a graduate from UNM you end up in big places. I’ve know many people going to NASA from here, going to MIT from here, to Stanford from here and excelling over there as well. So my experience overall was great, I got to learn a lot and I challenged myself.”
Saad has attended UNM throughout the transition from the Obama administration to the Trump administration, and while he hasn’t experienced any major changes himself, he has heard a lot of issues and stories of incidents happening around him, he said.
After Trump’s election and inauguration, Saad feels it has been a little difficult for many people in many different countries to come to the United States as students, he said.
“The Visa application has been challenging; there’s a lot of racism, a lot of sexism and overall it does not sound good based on the fact that you’re talking about the U.S.,” Saad said. “You’re talking about the U.S. president. It’s not just another country; it’s the United States of America. I think it has affected a lot of people so far. People over here have not been affected yet, I feel like, because we’re already here. People who are trying to come in are mostly the victims.”
While Saad did not begin his time at UNM until after the Trump administration took office, he said he would still be passionate about coming to UNM, and even if he felt discouraged, he would still give it his best shot, he said.
“I think UNM or any other university as an institution literally has nothing to do with how the president is acting or how the country’s been run,” Saad said. “At the end of the day, as an institution, we all believe in better education, we believe in better inventions, we believe in innovative technology; that’s what we thrive for.”
Saad’s advice to students and potential students is not to get carried away by the immigration rules and not to get discouraged by what others are saying.
“Because once you’re here, you’re here legally, and as long as the laws don’t change, — and it won’t; they can’t just kick you out of the country — I feel there is nothing to be afraid of,” Saad said. “There’s nothing to be scared of. You should just follow your path and just try out for the best opportunities.”
Nichole Harwood is a reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Nolidoli1.
