Harvard vs Trump: As fresh salvos are fired, international students live in anxiety and fear

A fire truck pulling outside; a friend urgently knocking at the door, and red & white lights of an emergency response vehicle.

The otherwise usual things increased the collective anxiety for Pratyush Rawal and his friends, a group of Harvard University foreign students, who had gathered at a house at the Somerville city near here on May 22.

As US President Donald Trump's administration suddenly nullified their legal status to be in the country, the students spent the night in distress and fear.


Before the courts stepped in, these students remained for next 24 hours "out-of-status," a term used to describe those who entered the US legally but lost their lawful status by not meeting certain conditions.

"An eerie anxiety has been lurking around since then. It was very real for a lot of us who are here on student visas. With a single stroke, everything changed. We did not know what was happening," Rawal told PTI Videos.

Some of the current students were actively thinking of transferring their degrees to other colleges, some were looking for a job but for all of them, "their dreams were getting shattered," says Rawal.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) withdrew Harvard certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme, effectively barring the university from admitting new foreign students and threatened the legal status of current international enrollees.

The Trump administration's decisions are impacting the lives of nearly 6,800 international students at Harvard, where they form about 27 per cent of its total student body. There are about 800 students of Indian-origin.

The issue soon drew national and international attention as the fate of these many students hangs in uncertainty.

Harvard quickly filed a lawsuit challenging the decision and on Wednesday, the Trump administration fired a fresh salvo.

The President has signed a proclamation, citing national security, to suspend international visas for new students at Harvard University, an effort termed by many as another effort to block foreigners from coming to the elite university.

Harvard has said it would fight to protect its international students.

"The current students, they don't know if they will be allowed to complete their degrees. It is just a lot of shaking up of lives. I know a lot of friends who have gotten admission here but are rethinking. There is a lot of uncertainty in this country... Not just for Harvard but for international students in general," says Rawal.

It all started in April when the federal officials sent a letter to Harvard demanding that it modify its hiring practices, implement "viewpoint diversity" to include conservative ideology.

It also asked the university to alter its student discipline regulations or risk federal financial support. Harvard's insubordination has meant that it is risking USD 2.2 billion of multi-year federal grant. Then there is another federal funding of USD 1 billion for health research, including that for critical and most infectious diseases, which too is under threat.

As legal battle continues, the impact on students and researchers is palpable at campuses. Most are scared to express and only want to be heard under the cover of anonymity.

"When you come to work you are thinking of science. A lot of these orders take your focus away from the work because you are worried about how things will unfold.

"Reaching here after a lot of hard work, these things don't create a happy environment and in the long run induces anxiety. Research takes years and if you have roadblocks, it makes your journey difficult," said a researcher, who didn't want to be identified fearing he might be targetted.

On Monday, Harvard University asked a federal judge to issue a summary judgment ruling to unfreeze USD 2.2 billion blocked by the government, which it said was illegal.

As per media reports here, Harvard's filing in the US District Court in Boston said that it had received 957 orders since April 14 to freeze funding for research.

Another problem the foreign students face and are wary of is what they are seen to be saying on their social media. "Now, they are saying the social media of students is being checked. This could become the basis of whether one gets a visa or not," says a foreign student at Harvard who didn't want to be identified. "This is something that never would have been a worry at Harvard earlier."

Meanwhile, members in the Boston diaspora community say they have been receiving distress messages from students seeking guidance. "We have had students approaching us for guidance and we do try to help by connecting them with legal experts etc.," says Syed Ali Rizvi, entrepreneur and an influential community member in Boston.

"My job as a community leader is to connect these students with those who can help," he adds.

Since the federal government's initial criticism of Harvard as a place where antisemitism was promoted or ignored, the government's list of complaints about the institution has grown by the day.

The administration has demanded the university implement a broad list of far-reaching reforms, which the university said would undermine its independence. It prompted the Trump administration to cut millions of additional dollars in research funding.

"You can't see Harvard and the country separately. What has been happening in Harvard is a reflection of the country. Logic is simple... hit the big fish, the small ones will fall in line," says a former professor of Harvard medical school, who doesn't want to be identified.