‘Troublemakers’, ‘Radical elements’: Inside Donald Trump’s war on foreign students in the US, and how it will adversely affect thousands of Indian youngsters
Since his return to White House in January 2025, US President Donald Trump has spearheaded a series of aggressive policy reforms, including those regarding immigration policies targeting foreign students. The Trump administration is projecting its crusade against foreign students enrolling in US universities as a measure to uphold national security, curb anti-semitism and weed out “troublemakers”.
During a media interaction on 29th May, President Trump termed international students as “troublemakers” and proposed a 15 per cent cap on enrolling foreign students at the Harvard University and other higher education institutions in the United States.
“We don’t want to see shopping centres explode. We don’t want to see the kind of riots that you had, and I’ll tell you what, many of those students didn’t go anywhere, many of those students were troublemakers caused by the radical left,” Trump said.
“Harvard has to show us their lists. They have foreign students – almost 31 per cent of their students. We want to know where those students come from, whether they are troublemakers, and what countries they come from….These countries aren’t helping us. They’re not investing in Harvard … we are. So why would 31 per cent – why would a number so big…I think they should have a cap of maybe around 15 per cent, not 31 per cent,” he added.
The US President further asserted that foreign students capture most of the student body and block the way for local American students to have better education.
“We have people [who] want to go to Harvard and other schools, [but] they can’t get in because we have foreign students there. But I want to make sure that the foreign students are people who can love our country,” Trump said.
Further escalating his attack on Harvard, the US President called the Ivy league institution as “disaster” and “totally anti-semitic”.
“Harvard has been a disaster. They’ve taken $ 5 billion+… And by the way, they’re totally anti-semitic at Harvard, and some other colleges too. It’s been exposed, very exposed, and I think they’re dealing very badly. Every time they fight, they lose another 250 million dollars… I think this is what everyone’s coming up to me saying, we love the idea of trade schools with that kind of money and money from others, but money from them. You can have the best trade schools anywhere in the world… They can only be used for trade schools, and they’ll teach people how to build AI,” Trump said.
Just days back, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem notified Harvard that its Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification was “revoked effective immediately.” The administration accused the university of “fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.”
Harvard’s legal battle against Trump
Amid escalating tensions between academia and the White House, Harvard University filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration. The lawsuit, filed in Boston federal court, paints a dire picture: more than 7,000 international students at Harvard now face an uncertain future, with the university warning of “immediate and devastating” consequences.
“With the stroke of a pen,” Harvard declared in its fiery complaint, “the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body — international students who are vital to our mission and our nation’s future.
This marked Harvard’s second lawsuit in just a month against the Trump administration — the first being over alleged federal interference in its curriculum, admissions, and hiring practices.
Earlier, the Trump administration had terminated significant federal funding to Harvard, including $60 million in grants, $450 million in additional funding and $2.2 billion in research grants over the varsity’s alleged failure to curb antisemitism and comply with federal demands. In April this year, Trump also called for the revocation of Harvard’s tax-exempt status and said that it should be “taxed as a political entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting “Sickness?”
Amusingly, during his electoral campaign last year, Donald Trump had softened his stance on foreign students studying in the US varsities and proposed granting an automatic Green Card to foreign students who graduate from US colleges. However, after coming to power, Trump has gone back to old ways and launched a crackdown on foreign students while outrightly declaring them “troublemakers”.
Trump’s second term has witnessed a renewed focus on immigration restrictions resembling policies from his first term. The Trump administration has targeted Harvard and other prestigious institutions, accusing them of fostering “anti-American” ideologies, anti-semitism as well as affiliations with foreign entities like the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Foreign students have come under the Trump administration’s radar as the government is prioritising compliance with federal regulations, bolstering national security through stricter vetting, and addressing campus protests, especially those pertaining to pro-Palestine activism.
On 27th May, the Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered US embassies and consular offices to stop scheduling new visa interviews for student applicants as Donald Trump administration is considering strict vetting of applicants’ social media profiles.
This directive would mark a broader application of existing vetting procedures to restrict foreign students’ entry to American schools and colleges.
“Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued septel, which we anticipate in the coming days,” the cable states. (“Septel” is State Department shorthand for “separate telegram.”)
While the cable accessed by Politico, does not detail what social media activity will be reviewed, it refers to executive orders focused on counterterrorism and antisemitism, Politico reported.
Previous guidance from administration included social media checks for returning students who had participated in protests related to Gaza. Many State Department officials have complained privately for months that past guidance, for, say, vetting students who may have participated in campus protests, has been vague. Officials remain uncertain whether specific online content, such as displaying a Palestinian flag, would trigger further review.
Thousands of foreign students face uncertain future in the US
In April this year, the Trump administration attempted to revoke student visas, particularly targeting students involved in pro-Palestine protests. The records of over 4700 students were removed from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, placing them in risk of deportation. While the legal challenges compelled the administration to restore legal status of many students, the administration expanded grounds for future terminations by deeming minor offenses or social media activity as problematic.
Meanwhile, on 29th May, Marco Rubio said that US will start aggressively revoking the visas of Chinese students in the country. Among the students likely to be affected are the ones with connections to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or studying in critical fields. This comes as China is said to have established an effective spying network at the top US universities, including the Ivy League universities like Harvard and Stanford, which also receive massive funds from the CCP. A detailed OpIndia report on how China is running a spying network in the US academic institutions can be read here.
Predictably, the Trump administration’s decision to halt visa interviews which will impact aspiring students globally, has sparked outrage and criticism. US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi opposed the Donald Trump administration for freezing student visa interviews amid reports of bringing severe social media vetting, calling it “a reckless decision”.
In a statement, Raja Krishnamoorthi emphasised that international students are vital to America’s economic strength and national security.
“I strongly oppose the Trump Administration’s reckless decision to freeze new student visa interviews and consider sweeping, undefined social media vetting for international students. International students help drive cutting-edge research, fuel our universities, and build the industries of tomorrow. These young people are not only scholars and innovators — they are vital to America’s economic strength and national security. By developing the next generation of technologies and the good-paying jobs that come with them, they help ensure the United States remains a global leader.” Krishnamoorthi said.
Krishnamoorthi said that shutting international students out is a “strategic blunder” and weakens US global competitiveness.
Notably, the halt on student visa interviews is temporary and is reported to have been imposed to the handle the existing backlog of applications. The pause will be in place until existing applications are not perused and the applicant’s background checks, including online activity, is not conducted.
Will Donald Trump’s crusade against foreign students trump the aspirations of Indian students?
There are over 11 lakh foreign students in the US, of which, 3 lakh are Indian students and are among those affected the most with Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown. In the academic year 2023-2024, foreign students contributed $44 billion to the US economy, with Indian students playing a key role due to their significant numbers and enrolment in high-tuition programs like STEM fields. The year-on-year increase in Indian student enrollment in the US was recorded 23.3 per cent in 2023-24, with Indian students alone making up for around 30 per cent of all foreign students that year. These students mostly pursue Math and Computer Science (42.9 percent), engineering. (24.5 percent), followed by the fields of Business and Management, Physical and Life Sciences, and Health Professions saw 11.2 per cent, 5.4 per cent, and 2.7 per cent of Indian students.
Last year, around 1,96,567 Indian students enrolled in graduate level programs, 36,053 at undergraduate level, students in Optional Practical Training or OPT made up 97,556 of the Indian applicants. Meanwhile, the tally of non-degree Indian students stood at 1,426, as per the Open Doors report. As per the SEVIS data, Indian students count saw a sharp decline from 3,48,446 in July 2024 to 2,55,447 in August 2024.
Talking about the academic year 2025, after a bill to terminate Optional Practical Training was introduced in the US Congress, there has been a 28 per cent drop year-on-year. However, many Indian students, especially at elite institutions like, Harvard, have already completed their visa applications, secured loans and also made financial commitments like tuition deposits. With an indefinite halt on new visa interviews, uncertainty around Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) status, Indian students face risk of not being able to enrol on time. This uncertainty and delays in visa processing could compel them to defer admission, look for alternative institutions or even abandon their US study plans altogether.
Besides, the expansion of social media vetting could prove to be a hurdle for Indian applicants as the US authorities may scrutinise content they deem anti-US or antisemitic leading to visa denials. This will particularly affect those who have either indulged in antisemitic on-campus activism or expressed such views on social media.
A broader impact of the hostile narrative against foreign students may also worsen the already existing negative stereotypes and racism that Indian students face in the USA.
The Trump administration’s crusade against foreign students is facing significant backlash from not only international students but also from educators, immigration advocates and political leaders, with many arguing that under the pretext of ensuring national security, the US government is unfairly targeting foreign students who significantly contribute to the US economy. For Indian students, they are caught in the crosshairs of a broader ideological conflict brewing in the US. The Trump administration’s policy shift is exacerbating existing challenges like high tuition costs and complex visa processes while putting up new obstructions to accessing education in the United States.
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