TERRE HAUTE — The past few weeks have been more than a little upsetting for 19-year-old Maha, who is Muslim, Arab and an Indiana State University sophomore.
While she’s not from one of the seven Muslim countries subject to President Trump’s Jan. 27 travel ban — now on hold — it’s not just those seven impacted, she said.
“It feels like it targets Muslims and Arabs in general,” she said. And that includes her.
On Thursday, Trump announced he will replace the original travel ban and issue a new executive order next week that addresses concerns raised by a federal appeals court.
For the international community, apprehension continues and questions remain.
When Maha came to the United States, she felt safe here. She had thought about going to school in France, but became aware of anti-Muslim protests after terrorist attacks there.
Now, with Trump’s executive order — even though courts so far have ruled against them — she is concerned and uncertain about the future.
“I seriously thought about starting to look at universities in Canada,” she said. She went home to North Africa for winter break and had no problems returning.
But she’s just not sure where things are headed. She wants to be able to visit home, and she wants to be able to finish her degree. Otherwise, her experience at ISU, and in Terre Haute, has been a good one.
She’s afraid government actions at the federal level could have a trickle-down effect on how international students are treated at the local level.
Some international students, especially those from Arab countries, “feel a little uncomfortable lately,” even just walking on campus, she said.
International Students Anxious
Maha, who asked that her full name and home country not be used with this story, isn’t the only international student shaken by the executive order and the climate it created; many remain anxious and uncertain. In recent interviews, some ISU Saudi Arabian students said they will not go home until they finish their degrees for fear they won’t be able to return.
There are an estimated 30,000 international students attending college in Indiana. ISU has about 900 international students, with about 440 from Saudi Arabia this semester. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology has 317 international students, while Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods College has 26.
At other major four-year public universities, Ball State University has 500 international students; IU-Bloomington, 6,605; and Purdue, West Lafayette, 9,303.
As federal courts deliberate President Trump’s temporary immigration/refugee travel ban — now subject to a stay — some in higher education believe the negative message sent around the world cannot be reversed.
“Whether intended or not, there is no doubt this has hurt how we [United States] are perceived by many, many people around the world,” said ISU President Dan Bradley. “There is no doubt students will decide either not to come to the U.S. and go somewhere else, or they’ll decide to just not study overseas.”
International students who come to the U.S. to study have made “incredible contributions” in such areas as science, technology and medicine, Bradley said, both in graduate school and when they stay here to work in those fields.
Hosting international students also helps promote strong ties with other countries. “For the vast majority of students who come here from overseas, when they go home, they are very good friends of the United States and speak very highly of their experience here,” he said.
Then, there’s the economic impact.
The large numbers of international students pursuing an education in Terre Haute, other Indiana colleges and the U.S. “is a huge export industry. When you think of the amount of money those students bring with them and spend at their universities and in the communities while here ... it’s tens of billions a year” nationwide, Bradley said.
Bradley, born in Canada, is himself an immigrant. He is now a U.S. citizen.
NAFSA, the Association of International Educators, estimates that 1,043,839 international students studying at U.S. colleges and universities contributed $32.8 billion and supported more than 400,000 jobs to the U.S. economy during the 2015-2016 academic year.
In Indiana, NAFSA estimates benefits at $957 million that year, supporting more than 12,000 jobs, based on an international student enrollment of 29,219 students.
The report also estimates international students at ISU contributed $28.1 million to the university/community economy and supported 366 jobs. Out of 45 public and private institutions included in Indiana, ISU ranked sixth in financial benefits/jobs supported.
In 2015, an ISU doctoral student did a study showing that international students provided a net financial contribution (revenues minus expenses) to the university of around $17 million for the 2014 academic year, based on tuition data.
Balance Approach
Trump has said the executive order is necessary to protect the United States from terrorism.
“To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban,” Trump said in a statement intended to clarify the executive order. “This is not about religion — this is about terror and keeping our country safe. There are over 40 different countries worldwide that are majority Muslim that are not affected by this order.”
One of his campaign pledges was to crack down on illegal immigration. Trump said the U.S. would resume issuing visas to all countries “once we are sure we have reviewed and implemented the most secure policies over the next 90 days.”
Bob English, dean of ISU’s College of Technology, believes a balanced approach is needed.
“I have concerns both ways. No vetting is not good. Extreme vetting is not good, either,” he said. “We live in a global village,” and people must be dealt with fairly and equitably so that economic development and humanitarian efforts can continue.
Polls indicate Americans have been sharply divided over Trump’s temporary travel ban, although many agree it was poorly implemented.
When the temporary travel ban and restrictions on refugees was first announced, Purdue University president Mitch Daniels — a former Republican governor of Indiana — called the order “a bad idea, poorly implemented,” and called on Trump to revoke it. Indiana University President Michael McRobbie issued a similar statement.
ISU, Rose-Hulman and the Woods also issued statements.
Faculty also affected
It’s not just students concerned.
Paul Christensen, a Rose-Hulman faculty member, said his wife is a green card holder, which means she is authorized to live and work in the U.S. She is from Brazil, South America.
When the travel ban was first announced, “I was particularly troubled by the detention of other green card holders as well as reports of harassment of lawful permanent residents from countries not included on the banned list. Until the executive order was issued, I would never have imagined a situation where I had to be concerned about my wife being allowed back into the United States. I am now deeply concerned and afraid of such a situation,” he said.
His wife must visit Brazil soon because of family health issues, and both he and his wife are nervous.
Christensen wrote a letter to 8th District U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon, R-Newburgh, expressing his concerns and also visited Bucshon’s Terre Haute office. Christensen believes Trump’s executive order “was in opposition to American values of inclusion, opportunity, and protection of the vulnerable and persecuted throughout the world.”
Sam Martland, Rose-Hulman associate professor of history and Latin American studies, felt so strongly about the executive order that he and six other people also went to Bucshon’s office Jan. 30 and asked the congressman to take a stand against the travel ban.
Martland said he has many friends who are on green cards, or whose spouses are on green cards, who are worried about increased travel restrictions.
He, too, is concerned Trump’s actions could “scare off” some international college students. Having students from overseas study here, and students from here study overseas, builds understanding and economic ties among nations and gives those students language skills and career options, Martland said. “I’m afraid of seeing study abroad and exchanges shrink.”
James Gustafson, assistant history professor at ISU, specializes in the modern Middle East and has become acquainted with many Middle Eastern students attending the university. Trump’s executive order “has been devastating for them ... It sends a message to Arab students they are not welcome here.”
In his mind, the president’s actions “are against the most basic values we hold dear as Americans.”
Sending A Message
Timothy Ghogle, president of ISU’s International Student Leadership Council, helped organize a Feb. 13 candlelight vigil in support of international students. The intent was “to send a strong message ... that international students should feel welcomed and cared for,” he said. “They should not feel abandoned.”
Among those appreciating that support is a recent ISU graduate from Libya, who obtained a master’s degree in December and has been working on campus this semester. Libya is one of the seven Muslim-majority countries identified by Trump in his Jan. 27 executive order.
“May” hasn’t been home in two years, and she had a baby in April that her mother has never met. Her mom has been unable to obtain a visa to visit Terre Haute. May, who asked that her full name not be used in this story, had hoped to return home this summer to visit, but as things stand, she fears she wouldn’t be able to return to the U.S.