Foreign students give up American dream over Trump crackdown

WASHINGTON: After President Donald Trump´s administration revoked hundreds of student visas and threatened several students with deportation, international students told AFP they were reconsidering their dreams of earning degrees in the United States.

Trump has launched a crackdown on higher education in recent weeks, accusing universities including Columbia and Harvard of allowing anti-Semitism on their campuses. In response more than 130 international students across the United States have joined a federal lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of unlawfully canceling their visas, jeopardising their legal status in the country.

But others have been deterred from stepping foot in America in the first place.

German Tariq Kandil turned down an opportunity to spend six months on exchange at the University of California, Davis, fearing he would be targeted by the US government for his social media posts criticising Trump and speaking about Palestine.

“I didn´t want to have to censor myself just to be able to enter the country,” the 21-year-old told AFP. “The United States is supposed to be the country of free speech.” Kandil said he was “afraid of being arrested when entering or leaving the country and finding myself in detention awaiting deportation.” He was also worried his name would attract undue scrutiny.