What do Trump’s executive orders mean for international higher ed?

Following several hardline immigration orders, stakeholders hope that Trump will make good on his vow to support DACA. Photo: iStock.

Within hours of Trump’s second presidential term, he wasted no time in issuing a “tsunami” of executive orders pertaining to immigration that carry potential repercussions for international students and their families in the US.

In a recent webinar hosted by NAFSA examining the path forward, the organization’s president Fanta Aw emphasized the importance of establishing reliable sources of information to prepare for continued policy upheavals, highlighting NAFSA’s continued advocacy, set out in its recommendations for the new government.

“The administration has made it very clear that they’re focused on growing the economy and workforce development, so we’re looking where we see common ground with this administration,” said Aw.

“We’re making the economic argument for why international education is for the benefit of the nation… Of course, international education is much, much more than economics, but the economics is something you cannot deny, and it’s something that we have common ground with the administration on.”

Here, The PIE News examines what Trump’s early days could mean for the sector and how colleges across the US are preparing.

Enhanced vetting

Perhaps the most consequential order – so far – for international students was the President’s directive to implement extreme vetting of foreign nationals applying for US visas, “to the maximum degree possible”.

“This could permit the government to perform enhanced screening of individuals in particular countries or even warrant a partial or full suspension admission of nationals from certain countries,” explained NAFSA deputy executive director of public policy, Jill Allen Murray.

“The enhanced vetting executive order is a particularly important one,” she added, citing concerns about how it could materialize for individuals taking part in student protests, who could be deemed hostile by the administration.

It is yet to be seen how far the vetting could go and whether individuals from entire nations could be blocked from obtaining a US visa, with more details expected from federal agencies in the next 30 to 60 days.

With sector leaders paying close attention to immigration changes and NAFSA establishing a ‘one-stop-shop‘ for policy updates, Allen Murray was clear to state that while the order “opens the door for potential actions… it doesn’t take them yet”.

Birthright citizenship

Garnering an immediate backlash from Trump’s opponents was his order seeking to end birthright citizenship for children born in the US to non-citizen parents, encompassing those in the US on temporary visas and those who entered unlawfully.

While it was widely expected that Trump would move to end birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants, his order went further to include those on temporary visas – including international students and faculty.

“Former vice president Kamala Harris is an example of someone who would be denied citizenship under this policy,” said Allen Murray.

The order, set to come into effect on February 19, is already being challenged in a multi-state lawsuit on January 23, where a federal judge will decide whether to block Trump’s order based on the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees citizenship for people born in the US.

According to the democratic attorneys filing the lawsuit, Trump’s policy would unlawfully strip at least 150,000 newborn children each year of citizenship, rendering them undocumented and denying them full participation in American society.

In 2022, there were approximately 255,000 births of citizen children to mothers living in the country illegally and about 153,000 births to two such parents, according to the law suit filed in Seattle.

Gender, DEI & DACA

Among Trump’s slew of directives were several orders changing government policies on gender and diversity, including revoking two of Biden’s orders aimed at preventing discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

Trump also signed an order “restoring biological truth to the federal government” by recognizing two sexes only – male and female – and declaring they can’t be changed.

“For students who may have availed themselves of a gender X passport, it’s not clear whether that will continue to be valid, so in terms of our servicing of students in the study abroad area, that would be one to pay attention to,” advised Allen Murray.

NAFSA also warned of the “harmful” ripple effects of the order ending DEI programs in the federal government, which has already prompted several companies including McDonald’s, Walmart and Meta to scale back their DEI initiatives.

In a move that has shocked educators and religious leaders, immigration enforcement officers will now be able to arrest migrants in sensitive locations like churches, schools and universities, overturning protections that have been in place for over a decade.

Colleges are being urged to put a plan in place to be prepared for what to do should Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs Border Protection (CBP) come onto campus.

In contrast to such hardline immigration measures, during the election campaign Trump signaled his willingness to work with Democrats on DACA – undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

“The initial signal was one of support,” said Aw: “But we want to see that in place and understand what that looks like, given the number of students who would be impacted and how detrimental that could be.”