Dumping this kind of uncertainty on foreign students is really unfair, they are usually on the very low end of the economic pole, scraping by on depending on loans and scholarships to stay in school here. They come here because of the promise of having a degree from the best universities in the world, and perhaps at a chance to continue working here and making their lives in the US. That has made such a difference in the US economy and technological standing, and helped the world improve overall as well…even students that go back home help to improve their nations.
There is a good chance that good feeling will be gone after this, students who are chased out of the nation won’t be coming back, they can’t trust us. If this does get stopped (which it really should be, the rule making appears to be lawless), they will still wonder how long until something else is done to eject them. High school students overseas are going to be more likely to go to other nations instead of coming here.
Now, the drastic change with the arrival of a Biden administration, but hopefully a repaired immigration system from a Democratic Congress will make it so things like this can’t happen again. But, there’s no guarantee a President Cotton won’t shut everything down again, and foreign students will now, for the first time, have to consider the capriciousness of the government in place, and which one might be elected before they finish their degree, to decide whether to become students here. It’s not going to help recruit students here for many years, which was probably the intent of the racist policy change.
