For some travelers arriving at Logan airport’s international terminal, loved ones with flowers or balloons await them just outside the door to U.S. Customs and Border Control. But it’s a lonelier arrival for many incoming international students, who each year leave their families to pursue higher education in the U.S.
And this year the trip comes with a lot more anxiety. What was once a routine journey back to school for the roughly 80,000 international students on Massachusetts campuses now feels laden with risk thanks to the Trump administration’s shifting regulations.
“I am quite worried actually,” said Alfred Williamson a few weeks before he flew from the United Kingdom to Boston. “I assume that I’ll make it in and that I will eventually be OK, but I think I’ll have a difficult time doing so.”
The Harvard University sophomore watched with concern this year as Trump administration officials revoked student visas before later reinstating them, paused visa interviews for weeks and expanded social media vetting. President Trump also announced travel bans or restrictions on 19 countries.
Williamson said he often thought about the potential havoc those developments could spawn for his return to school. The thought of being pulled into a room and interrogated by customs officials, he said, spurred him to consider drastic steps like restoring the factory settings on his mobile phone — wiping personal information from the device. At the very least, he planned on deleting social media apps.
Immigration and higher education experts said they haven’t seen many international students turned away at the border yet. But these changes have bred uncertainty among new and returning scholars, said immigration attorney Dan Berger.
“We don’t know what they’re looking for. We don’t know how hard they’re looking,” Berger said. “We don’t know what kind of AI tools might be used to search social media.”
Harvard students are particularly concerned after the campus became a primary battle field for the Trump administration’s war on higher education. The federal government stopped Harvard from enrolling international students. A judge blocked the move temporarily while the case is being decided.
“I really hope that I’m going to be able to come back,” said Karl Molden of Austria. “I don’t have a plan B for the fall.”
The Harvard junior said some of his classmates have considered other opportunities in case they’re denied entry at the border.
“Customs and like going through it has always been, you know, in the U.S. much more strict than other countries. And very serious. And I’m always personally happy when it’s over,” Molden said. “But this is going to bring it to the next level.”
The threat of being denied re-entry led many students to forgo trips home this summer. Often, their mothers and fathers urged them to stay put, said Joann Ng Hartmann, senior impact officer at NAFSA, Association of International Educators.
“More parents are saying, ‘no, please stay,’ because they’ve invested so much,” she said.
University leaders have grown concerned about a drop in international enrollment, she added. And initial data suggests their concerns are warranted.
Of the more than 500 colleges that responded to an Institute of International Education survey, 35% reported a drop in applications from international students this spring. Locally, the International Association of Educators predicts Massachusetts will have about 10,000 fewer new international students starting college this year.
And it’s the students who did leave the country — or have yet to set foot on campus for the first time — that now face what could be a rocky road into the U.S.
The proposed travel bans mean students from countries including Iran and Afghanistan likely won’t make it to campus at all, said Ng Hartmann.
And those who need to secure visas have struggled to find appointments.
“This has been a very bad season for people who are trying to get their student visas,” said Eric Morin, a retired foreign service officer who now helps students with the visa application process. “There just are not enough student visa slots.”
The social media vetting has also delayed the system, Morin said. He estimates his clients now wait a couple weeks longer for their visa processing.
Several weeks after discussing his concerns with WBUR, it was time for Williamson to board a plane to Boston. The day started with bad news from two of his friends, who said they’d been delayed and interrogated for three hours during a pre-flight check in Abu Dhabi.
But once Williamson’s flight landed at Logan airport, things went smoother than he had feared. He waited 30 minutes as the line at customs snaked its way towards officials, who asked questions and checked paperwork.
When he reached the front, the customs agent did not stop him. After that, he grabbed his luggage off the carousel and walked through the double doors, past the families waiting for other passengers.
“It was a huge relief,” he said.
Now back in his Cambridge dorm, Williamson awaits his other friends, including Karl Molden. They still aren’t sure whether they’ll make the journey back.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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