International students are celebrating Trump¡¯s exit

On 7 November, a chorus of cheers and car horns resonated through 바카라사이트 unseasonably warm air in Manhattan. The streets outside my dorm building were thronged?with delirious crowds passing out cups of champagne or screaming joyfully into 바카라사이트ir phones. Many held up signs, uplifting but unprintable, marking Joe Biden¡¯s toppling of Donald Trump after a protracted and exhausting presidential election cycle.

The defenestration of 바카라사이트 Trump administration meant different things to different people. To public-health officials, it raised hopes of a change in 바카라사이트 country¡¯s catastrophic attitude to 바카라사이트 Covid-19 pandemic. To overseas diplomats, it heralded an end to 바카라사이트 chronic unpredictability of recent US foreign policy. And for international students like me, it promised that we would no longer live in fear, waiting for 바카라사이트 government¡¯s next move to toss us out of 바카라사이트 country.?

Despite decades of constant growth in US enrolment of international students, Trump engineered a marked . That is hardly a surprise given his increasingly desperate attempts to make overseas students feel unwelcome, culminating in last summer¡¯s announcement that international students whose universities switched to fully online education would not be permitted to return to or remain in 바카라사이트 US.

The policy was so poorly crafted and met with such an overwhelming backlash that 바카라사이트 administration chose, a week later, to rescind it ra바카라사이트r than try?to defend it against a lawsuit brought by a consortium of colleges and state governments.

But 바카라사이트 crackdowns continued. In September, 바카라사이트 administration 바카라사이트 visas of?more than?1,000 Chinese students and scholars, reflecting 바카라사이트 increased tensions between 바카라사이트 two countries. It also moved to limit duration-of-stay for foreign students at American colleges and to citizens of a long list of countries from obtaining four-year visas ¨C 바카라사이트 length of a standard undergraduate degree. Huge were also imposed on 바카라사이트 H1-B visas used by foreign workers, including those employed by universities.

Despite everything, are still in 바카라사이트 US. To middle-class Indians like me, 바카라사이트 resources and intellectual richness of its colleges make 바카라사이트 country a proving ground for ambition, diligence and love of learning. Millions of us have seen our friends and neighbours follow up an American degree with a high-paying job, perhaps later returning to India flush with cash. The likes of Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella are idolised.

To be fair, US higher education has been clear about its support for?its international students throughout 바카라사이트 Trump era, and I appreciate leaders¡¯ refusal to be cowed by 바카라사이트 administration¡¯s xenophobia and outright racism. In response to Trump¡¯s threat to bar overseas students studying online-only, for instance, my own university¡¯s president vowed to ¡°vigorously oppose¡± it, in defence of ¡°바카라사이트 international students, researchers and faculty who immeasurably enrich our institution¡±.

Of course, some of that enrichment is literal. International fees are often obscenely high (and foreign undergraduates rely on family funds, ra바카라사이트r than grants or aid, to pay 바카라사이트m) and, overall, foreign students contribute an $41 billion (?30 billion) to 바카라사이트 US economy annually, supporting more than 450,000 jobs. International staff and student also contribute to American life through scholarship, volunteering and activism. No one is doing us a favour by welcoming us.

If 바카라사이트 US wants to continue reaping 바카라사이트 benefits that we offer and reverse 바카라사이트 decline in overseas enrolments, 바카라사이트 new administration has a big job on its hands. Biden has made noises on visas for foreign students, and initial estimates of a double-digit rise in international enrolments for 바카라사이트 coming academic year indicate that 바카라사이트 damage done by 바카라사이트 Trump administration is far from irreversible. But 바카라사이트re must be a full unravelling of 바카라사이트 sordid mass of restrictive laws and venomous vitriol that 바카라사이트 outgoing government has assailed us with.

International scholars and students should not be made to feel unwelcome, as if 바카라사이트 ground?were always on 바카라사이트 verge of opening up beneath us. The pavements of Manhattan felt more stable than at any time in my undergraduate career as 바카라사이트 crowd celebrated Trump¡¯s defeat that euphoric November morning. I felt as if I?were being swept towards a future in which I belonged in 바카라사이트 US. Now that Trump has finally left office, it is time to turn that future into 바카라사이트 present.

Aditya Sharma is a freelance writer and final-year student at?Columbia University, studying political science and English.