Trump crackdown casts chill over international student programs

Colleges are increasingly worried about President Trump scaring away their international students.  

More than a million foreign-born scholars attend U.S. universities every year, bringing billions of dollars to the economy and a pipeline of high-value workers.  

But Trump’s crackdown on student demonstrators, coming alongside his attacks on higher education more broadly, could have them looking elsewhere.

“The Trump administration is purportedly trying to improve the economic and business climate for U.S.-based companies, and to grow American jobs and salaries. But the apprehension now felt by countless prospective international students and their families are undermining those very important goals,” said Eddie West, assistant vice president of international affairs at California State University, Fresno.

In the 2023-2024 academic year, there were approximately 1.1 million foreign students who contributed $43.8 billion to the U.S. economy, according to data collected by the Association for International Educators, or NAFSA, and JB International. Those numbers represent both a record and the third straight year of growth after the COVID-19 pandemic.

NAFSA found that for every three international students, one U.S. job is created or supported.

And U.S.-educated foreign graduates have a terrific success rate: A study by the National Foundation for American Policy in 2018 found that one out of every four billion-dollar startups in America were created by former international students who studied here.

“It’s worth remembering that it’s not just colleges and universities whose finances will be impacted, but their local communities will be as well. Think restaurants, accommodation providers, inbound visits by international students’ family members and other so-called economic multipliers,” West said.

Those students, who often pay far more in tuition than domestic ones, can also help fill in gaps as overall enrollment declines — down 15 percent from 2010 to 2021, according to the National Center for Education Statistics

“Colleges and universities are already facing reduced enrollments due to the demographic cliff and diminishing public support for higher education in some parts of the U.S.,” said Ruth Johnston, vice president of consulting services at NACUBO.

The No. 1 exporter of students to the U.S. last year was India, which sent some 331,602, a 23 percent increase year-over-year and enough to seize the top spot from China.

And multiple Indian citizens have been caught up in the Trump administration’s sweeping efforts to detain and deport students who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral scholar at Georgetown University, was arrested by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and told his visa was revoked.

Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Suri was “actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media,” though she offered no further details of his activity.

Suri’s attorney, however, says he is being targeted due to the Palestinian heritage of his wife, who is a U.S. citizen, as well as his critical views of Israel.

The Trump administration is making use of an obscure law that allows the secretary of State to deport people he says pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy, and it has gone after students from countries also including Turkey, South Korea and Iran.

Mahmoud Khalil, the first and most famous of those detained under Trump for their pro-Palestinian activism, is a legal permanent resident of the U.S. and an Algerian citizen who was born in a Syrian refugee camp.

“The moment Mahmoud got arrested, it sent shockwaves across the Columbia community. He’s a green card holder,” Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian national and doctoral student at Columbia who fled to Canada before she could be deported, told Al Jazeera. “That’s when I realized I have no rights in this system at all. It was only a matter of time before they caught hold of me.”

Trump officials have argued the student demonstrations have been “pro-Hamas” and any noncitizen who disrupts U.S. universities does not have a right to stay in the country.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters last week that more than 300 student visas have been revoked, saying, “We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa.”

“If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us that the reason you are coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we are not going to give you a visa,” Rubio said.

And the immigration crackdown is just one part of Trump’s barrage against colleges and universities, which also includes trying to ban diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, striking protections for transgender students and openly threatening the funding of schools that fail to comply, including big names such as Columbia, Harvard and Princeton.

All of those efforts could take some of the shine off America’s storied institutions of higher learning for global scholars choosing where to study.

“Concerns are now increasing about international student enrollment, in part due to uncertainty about research funding, as many graduate students come to the U.S. to gain research skills and experience. International students often pay a much higher rate of tuition than U.S. students, and this loss of enrollment would only make budgeting more difficult and concerning,” Johnston said.  

Fanta Aw, executive director and CEO of NAFSA, said, “We cannot take for granted that international students are going to continue to come.”

“There’s a whole world out there, and there’s so many countries that see what international students can offer, and they’re actively recruiting international students and scholars, whether it’s Germany, whether it’s Japan, whether it’s Spain, whether it’s France, and the list goes on,” Aw said. “We cannot assume that the U.S. will continue to be that destination of choice, because parents want predictability. Students want predictability.”

Bipartisan senators unveil measure providing flexibility in school lunch milk options

A bipartisan trio in the Senate unveiled a proposal Wednesday to require schools to offer nondairy milk options at lunch to accommodate students who are lactose intolerant or have other dietary restrictions.

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) has long required school lunches to include milk on all trays in order for schools to be reimbursed for the meals.

But the Freedom in School Cafeterias and Lunches (FISCAL) Act — introduced by Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) — would update the legislation to require schools to also offer students “plant-based milk” that is “consistent with nutritional standards established by the Secretary.”

“We need to be doing whatever it takes to make sure our kids are fed in school,” Fetterman said in a statement. “This bipartisan bill cuts the unnecessary red tape in our nutrition assistance programs so students can access meals that work for them and their dietary needs.”

Booker said the bill also seeks to remedy inequity in the school lunch program, noting many people of color are lactose intolerant and are deprived of some nutrition that other students might get through milk at lunch.

“Most of this nation’s children of color are lactose intolerant, and yet our school lunch program policy makes it difficult for these kids to access a nutritious fluid beverage that doesn’t make them sick,” Booker said in a statement. “This bipartisan and bicameral legislation will bring greater equity to the lunchroom, by giving students the option to choose a nutritious milk substitute that meets their dietary needs.”

The senators also touted the legislation as fiscally sound, pointing to data indicating 40 percent of milk cartons at lunches get discarded without even being opened.

“There are over 30 million food-insecure children in this country, yet current school lunch policies waste $400 million worth of food each year. Feeding our kids and keeping them healthy isn’t a red or blue issue,” Fetterman said.

Judge allows UC Berkeley antisemitism lawsuit to proceed

A district judge ruled Monday that an antisemitism lawsuit accusing the University of California, Berkeley of inaction regarding harassment of Jewish students can proceed.

District Judge James Donato in a 5-page ruling said the suit alleging the university violated the civil rights and equal protection rights of Jewish students could move forward.

“Taken as a whole, the FAC plausibly alleges disparate treatment with discriminatory intent and policy enforcement that is ‘not generally applicable,’” the judge wrote.  

“The FAC also plausibly alleges that Berkeley was deliberately indifferent to the on-campus harassment and hostile environment,” he added.

The judge dismissed one claim that involved contracts with legal academics.  

The case was brought on by the Louis D. Brandeis Center and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education. 

The Hill has reached out to the university for comment.

The case comes as dozens of universities are under investigation by the Department of Education for alleged inaction on antisemitism.

Columbia University had $400 million of funding paused over similar accusations, and billions of dollars in Harvard University contracts and grants are under review due to the same allegations.

The Trump administration has made combating antisemitism a top priority for the Education Department, with the president signing an executive order on the matter and creating a federal antisemitism task force.

'Unsatisfactory': Dems slam McMahon for dodging questions about end of Education Department in meeting

Democrats slammed Education Secretary Linda McMahon for dodging their questions about the end of her department in a Wednesday meeting, accusing the secretary of not having a plan for moving forward after firing half of her employees.

Rep. Mark Takano (Calif.), one 10 Democratic lawmakers who met with McMahon at the Education Department, said there was “a lot of unsatisfactory, sort of, ambiguity” about her promises to follow statute while also making her goal to “end the department de facto by cutting and slashing the workforce so the department absolutely does not fulfill its functions.”

Takano and McMahon confirmed during a press conference afterward that more meetings between the secretary and Democrats would take place in the future.

The press conference struck an odd balance between criticisms and cordial attitudes from the Democrats, who said no other Cabinet chief has yet been willing to meet with them face-to-face.

“I have to say the secretary indicated more than once that before she moved any functions of the department … that she was looking carefully at what the statute allows her to do. That was refreshing information that the secretary conveyed to all of us,” Takano said.

“For a generally lawless, extraconstitutional, extralegal administration … the words from this secretary were much different than I expected,” he added.

But concerns are growing as President Trump has already said he is moving the “student loan portfolio” to the Small Business Administration and programs for students with disabilities to the Department of Health and Human Services “immediately,” although no action has been taken since that statement.

The president also signed an executive order directing McMahon to dismantle the department as far as she is legally allowed.

McMahon joined the press conference to thank the Democrats for their time and reiterate she wants to see more power on education given to the states.

“I want to express my gratitude to all these folks that came today so that we can have open discussions about what I believe is one of the most important things we can have a discussion on … the education of our young people,” she said.

As McMahon was walking away, Takano asked her when she plans to shut down the department, to which she did not respond and went back inside the building.

“As you see, she is not answering the question: when she is going to shut down the Department of Education,” Takano said, with other Democrats in the background saying, “She doesn’t have a plan.” 

For the federal agency to be completely eliminated, it would take an act of Congress, which is unlikely to happen considering it would require 60 votes in the Senate.  

Democrats during the press conference raised concerns about the firing of half of the department’s workforce and cuts to the Office for Civil Rights, saying they doubt the agency will be able to meet its legal obligations under the current conditions.

“The idea of dismembering the department and then parceling it out to other agencies and departments does not give us a lot of confidence or hope in what’s happening,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said.

Naval Academy removes hundreds of library books in DEI purge

The U.S. Naval Academy has removed nearly 400 books that promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) from its library.

A spokesperson for the Navy confirmed to The Hill that the Academy removed the nearly 400 books from the Nimitz Library collection “in order to ensure compliance with all directives outlined in Executive Orders issued by the President.”

The library, according to the spokesperson, has roughly 590,000 print books, 322 databases and over 5,000 print journals and magazines.

“The Naval Academy’s mission is to develop Midshipmen morally, mentally and physically in order to cultivate honorable leaders, create a culture of excellence, and prepare them for careers of service to our country,” the spokesperson told The Hill.

The step is the latest in the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate DEI policies, programs, social media postings and curriculum in federal agencies and schools.

Officials for the Annapolis, Md., school were instructed to review the library late last week, though it is unclear if the directive came directly from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hegseth arrived for a visit Tuesday, though officials said the visit was unconnected to the purge, The Associated Press reported.

About 900 books were initially identified in the sweep, before the nearly 400 were removed. A list of the books has not yet been made available.

The academy also recently announced it would no longer consider race, ethnicity or sex as a factor for admission, despite a U.S. senior district judge upholding the Naval Academy’s race-conscious admissions policy in December.

According to the AP, West Point and the Air Force have also completed reviews of their curriculum and are prepared to review library content if directed. 

Hegseth and the Pentagon faced backlash recently after attempts to remove DEI content resulted in the removal of military heroes and historic mentions from the Defense Department’s websites and social media pages.

On Monday, the Naval Academy mistakenly removed photos of distinguished female Jewish graduates from a display case in preparation for Hegseth’s visit. 

Meanwhile, web pages highlighting Jackie Robinson, Japanese American veterans, the Navajo Code Talkers and Army Maj. Gen. Charles C. Rogers, a Black recipient of the Medal of Honor, were also removed from the Pentagon’s website.

Officials said the removals were all mistakes and have been reversed.

Updated at 12:28 p.m. EDT.

Senate Democrats open investigation into reports AI could replace contract workers at Education Department

Senate Democrats are opening an investigation into reports that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is attempting to replace some contract workers at the Education Department with artificial intelligence (AI).  

Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), sent a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon after The New York Times reported call centers that take questions from students and families about student aid could be replaced with an AI bot.

“DOGE’s proposal threatens to misinform borrowers and families, lead to data privacy breaches, and pose conflicts of interest arising from Elon Musk’s financial stake in AI development,” the letter said.  

The call centers field around 15,000 questions per day from an average of 1,600 students and families. The proposal has been floated as the president is looking to dismantle the federal agency, laying off nearly half the Department of Education’s employees already.

“The department is open to using tools and systems that would enhance the customer service, security and transparency of data for students and parents,” Madi Biedermann, the department’s deputy assistant secretary for communications, told the Times in February. “We are evaluating all contracts to assess effectiveness relative to costs.”

The senators are concerned about problems with AI “hallucinations,” which cause chatbots to give the wrong information, along with privacy concerns.  

“If not properly safeguarded, confidential information present in either the training data or in the chatbot’s past conversations could be inadvertently leaked during its interactions with other users or even obtained maliciously by bad actors,” the letter reads.  

The senators demand responses by April 16 to questions such as whether DOGE is working to replace call centers with AI bots and, if they are, what type of safeguards are being put in place to protect students and families. 

“Given DOGE’s record of prioritizing chaos over competence, there is little reason to believe that DOGE’s AI chatbot would genuinely serve the needs of borrowers and families,” the Democrats wrote.