United States President Donald Trump is making good on his campaign’s linchpin promise, securing America’s borders. What began with mass deportations of immigrants living in the US, is now culminating in a re-introduction of the travel ban that plagued citizens of several Muslim majority countries.
Fear over the “Muslim bans” second coming are well alive after a Reuters report revealed that Pakistan may be on the list of new travel restrictions that could arrive as early as this week. In the midst of Trump’s first presidency, the travel ban and its subsequent reworks and reiterations had dreadful implications for foreign students. Now, well into the third month of Trump’s second presidency, they are struck with a keen sense of deja-vu, as they sit on the precipice of the same havoc all over again.
But, before the panic sets in, it’s important to review how the original travel ban affected students, in order to understand how another may affect both current and future Pakistani students.
Stranded
The first iteration of the travel ban left many students in a state of stark confusion. The original ban specifically referenced that some foreign-born individuals who had committed terror attacks since 2001 entered the US on student visas, leaving those who held such visas and green cards unsure about their ability to return to the States. So, how were students affected in 2017 after the initial executive order?
After section three of the ban ordered a review of information required to grant a visa in order to establish that the applicant is not a security threat, and sub-section-C clarified that until such review can be conducted, immigrant and non-immigrant entry into the US would be suspended for 90 days, students were left stranded. While certain visas, including diplomatic visas, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation visas, C-2 visas for travel to the United Nations, and G-1, G-2, G-3, and G-4 visas were exempt, no mention was made to F-1 student visas (regarding university study), J-1 exchange visas (exchange programs), and M-1 student visas (regarding non-academic or vocational study.)
Thus, students outside of the country stayed there, unsure whether they would be permitted into the US. Others, such as Samira Asgari, an Iranian referenced in an Inside Higher Education article, were turned away from airports when on-route to return to the US. Those inside the country remained there, not knowing whether they would be able to return if they left.
Also read: New Trump travel ban could bar Afghans, Pakistanis soon
Another concern was for the students scheduled to be admitted in the fall of 2017. With section three outlining the need for a review of information required from applicants, as well as section four which ordered the implementation of a poorly defined uniform screening program that includes “a process to evaluate the applicant’s likelihood of becoming a positively contributing member of society, the applicant’s ability to make contributions to the national interest, and the assessment of the applicants intent to commit terrorist acts,” the entry of new students was under question.
However, following a lawsuit filed by the state of Washington which granted a nationwide restraining order against the original ban, a new executive order was issued on March 6, 2017. Within the new ban, subsection c of section 3, regarding the scope and implementation of suspension, stated that a case by case waiver could be appropriate if the foreign national in question had previously been admitted to the US for a continuous period of work, study, or other long-term activity. However, the order prefaces this by stating that this is to be done on a case by case basis, with consideration of whether the denial of entry would cause undue hardship, that entry would not pose a threat to national security, and that entry would be in the national interest.
Regarding those that currently held a student visa, the American Council on Education (ACE) explained that the “new executive order does not apply to those with valid visas and that they are free to travel to and from the United States as long as their visas remain valid.”
Implications of a new ban
Based on the previous roll-out of the travel bans, it remains unclear how students planning on attending a US university in the upcoming fall semester would be affected by new travel restrictions. A situation in which a lack of clarity leaves current students with valid visas stranded inside or outside the country is certainly possible. Such an outcome is not unlikely, as more than a dozen US colleges and universities issued travel warnings before Trump had even taken office, in December 2024.
Additionally, future students may be left unsure about whether their current visas will remain admissible or if they will need a new one altogether. In the latter case, based on the previous travel bans, individuals may be required to undergo a strenuous screening/vetting procedure, and their entry will largely depend on the mechanism used to determine whether applicants are dangerous or not. Trump has already issued an executive order earlier this January, which requires “intensified security vetting” of foreigners seeking admission to the US, to detect threats to national security.
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However, there remains the possibility that Trump and his current administration may have learned from past mistakes, and in order to avoid a legal back and forth, may opt to exempt students from restrictions as they did in subsequent iterations of the ban. That being said, as expressed by ACE President Molly Corbett following the second iteration of the ban and its clarification regarding the status of students, the damage done by such travel restrictions exceeds what is immediately noticeable.
“We fear that those still excluded – coupled with the faulty initial roll-out and the harsh rhetoric that often accompanies today’s public policy discussions about immigration – still creates a climate where it is far more difficult for international students and scholars to view this country as a welcoming place for study and research,” wrote Corbett.
Her fears are not unfounded. A study published in 2019 looking at two Texas universities found statistically significant declines in both international graduate applicants and the number of applicants from Muslim-majority countries. The significance of such a finding is simple. International students will consider the political climate of their possible destinations before committing to one. And despite Biden’s best attempts to calm the volatile atmosphere surrounding the US by rescinding Trump’s ban immediately upon taking office in 2021, it seems the current president may once again start a storm.