Under Trump, the reputation of America as being the land of opportunity for college students, both domestic and international, is slowly dying. As of now, America remains as one of the top destinations for international students in the world, with over 1 million students. American universities have amazing research opportunities and hold prestige throughout the world, making the country an attractive place to get an education, even if it means making financial and personal sacrifices.
When making the decision to come to the United States for college, international students have to take into consideration the necessity of obtaining a work visa after graduation in order to stay in America. In previous years, the H-1B visa program gave college graduates an opportunity to gain a work visa by a lottery of around 200,000 applicants. However, Trump’s recently signed “Buy American, Hire American” executive order has the potential to change the current system. While Trump’s order doesn’t literally change the H-1B program, it orders Departments of Labor, Justice, Homeland Security and State to propose revisions to the current visa system-one popular suggestion is to select only skilled immigrants with high salaries of about $100,000. This means that overseas college graduates may only be considered for one of the 85,000 work visas if they are able to get a salary of over $100,000.
In addition, Trump’s anti-immigration stance has also influenced a current Department of Homeland Security proposal. The proposal would necessitate annual applications for overseas students for permission to live in America. Right now, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program under the Department of Homeland Security enables college officials to endorse overseas students. Under the new proposal, the one-time fee of $200 and one submission of paperwork would turn into $800 (assuming the student has an average 4-year university experience) and constant resubmission of paperwork. Foreign students already face more financial fees and paperwork than domestic students, so this proposal makes studying in America more tedious and costly than before.
Trump’s distrust of immigrants has led to government policies and proposals that make America a less-appealing nation to get a college degree for international students. It’s a shame that with one President, many American dreams of studying in the U.S. are being tossed aside.
No comments:
Post a Comment