Student Visa Changes: On-campus Impacts
Amanda Buendia ‘29
The U.S. Customs Seal. Photo via Wikimedia Commons
While coming through Customs this Aug., a Latin American Sarah Lawrence College student reported being taken to a separate room for further passport and background inspection at the John F. Kennedy International Airport. She was held there without explanation, describing the people around her as appearing Latinx and Asian, many of whom were on the same international flight as the interviewee. She explained, “It took, like, 30 minutes where I was just in that room. You could not talk. You could not take out your phone.”
The agents freed her and returned her passport, still without any explanation.
This student’s experience reflects one of the Trump administration’s many implemented changes this year: the stiffening of F-1 student visa policies. These changes complicate applying for and maintaining visas for international students, including those at Sarah Lawrence College.
In 2025, the Trump administration paused the scheduling of student visa appointments and resumed them in June. Afterward, the Trump administration announced that all applicants’ social media accounts must be made public to be screened. By Aug., the State Department revoked over 6,000 international student visas, citing overstays and breaches of U.S. law (Faguy, 2025).
Sarah Lawrence students who obtained their student visa in 2025 did not report major issues in obtaining their visas, but were stunted by embassy interview issues. Visa applications require interviews with a consular officer, making interviews a necessary step for visa approval (Student Visa, n.d.). Students were forced to call repeatedly to ask their embassies to see when interview appointments were available, as it was never clearly stated when interviews could resume. Embassy interviews were behind schedule, leaving one student without an interview until the middle of Aug., nearly jeopardizing attending pre-orientation on time.
During their embassy interviews, students reported that the interviews themselves were not extensive. Students reported that they “cleaned out” their social media accounts, taking down politically charged messages or content that could be deemed critical of the U.S.
However, students did report experiencing discomfort while coming through the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. One student explained that she “panic[s] a little bit every time [she] go[es] through Customs.”
In contrast, students who obtained their visas in 2024 concluded that their experience was a “pretty smooth process,” according to students from Europe and the Middle East. Their experiences differ from the interview issues and social media vetting of students who acquired visas in 2025, demonstrating the complication of the visa acquisition process after policy changes.
The overall consensus amongst Sarah Lawrence students was that their origin countries’ relationship with the U.S. influenced ease of process. One student described this as "preferential treatment,” referring to the quickness and lack of issues she experienced in the visa application process, as someone from a European country that is currently allied with the U.S.
This Aug., she gained visa approval immediately after her brief embassy interview. This contrasts the experience this summer of a Latin American student, whose visa was not approved the day of her embassy interview. During her interview, she was asked if she protests or discusses the U.S. government, while the European student was not asked at all.
Parthiban Muniandy, Sarah Lawrence Professor of Sociology, with a specialty in transnational migration, concurs that scrupulousness for visa applications appears to vary by country. He concluded that policy changes are “not affecting everyone the same way… the precarity, vulnerability they feel really depends on where they’re coming from.”
As for Sarah Lawrence College’s role, they provided the acceptance letter and other paperwork needed to apply for a student visa. The general consensus was that the school “did what they needed to do,” according to a student who acquired her visa in 2025.
International Student Services on campus was unable to comment. However, their website details their services as including documentation and advisory assistance, providing F-1 visa information and serving as a correspondent between U.S. agencies and international students (International Student Services, n.d.).
Currently, students with F-1 visas are generally allowed to stay in the U.S. for the length of their education programs with 60 days to leave the country (Maintaining Status, n.d.). With an optional practical training (OPT) extension, students are eligible to stay up to twelve months after graduation in the field they majored in (Optional Practical Training, 2024). According to interviewees, Sarah Lawrence’s liberal arts degree makes it easier to stay for the extra year, as the broadness of the “major” serves as an umbrella term for a multitude of job paths.
According to Sarah Lawrence’s very own website, it is “[o]ne of the most politically active campuses in the country.” For international students, partaking in the campus’ activism culture comes with an air of fear. One student specifically noted that she can no longer post about protests for Gaza, having known of people whose visas were revoked for similar reasons. Several students noted they would have attended No Kings protests if they felt they could do so without risking their visas.
These patterns of self-censorship highlight the overarching wariness students reported of maintaining their status. Most students described feeling secure in maintaining their visas but also being cautious not to do anything to change that. As one student described, the U.S. Department of State “can track anything and everything, and you don’t know if it’s going to be you who gets kicked out of school.”
Students reported feeling especially concerned for their international peers coming from countries such as China, worrying that the country’s relationship with the U.S. could negatively impact students’ ability to obtain and maintain student visas. No Chinese international students were available to interview, as of now.
Muniandy reported that from his own conversations, Chinese international students are “feeling very, very vulnerable,” especially due to “heightened xenophobia.”
As of June 2025, all international students’ social media accounts are now susceptible to a vetting process that can result in the revoking or denying of visas (Announcement, 2025). One student explained that this surveillance appears to be “another way to control the media, control discussions and avoid protests against [Trump].”
Other students perceived the policy changes as being meant to seem menacing rather than be threatening and one claimed that “fear mongering was really big.”
Muniandy concurs with this notion, explaining his view on social media vetting as being “a way to intimidate people to either self censor or not even apply for visas,” and noting gravely that “it’s working.”
This “fear mongering” is amplified by word of mouth, as every interviewed student knew of international students at other schools who had more challenging experiences.
Still, another emphasized that his resounding attitude toward the policy changes was one of confusion. He said this was due to the fact that the legislature “seems very uncertain. There’s a policy today, a policy tomorrow that could be contradicting to the policy before.”
One Latin American student noted feeling especially anxious due to the fact that the visa of Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia, was revoked after he encouraged American soldiers to disobey Trump (Megerian, 2025). This instance made her worry. “What are they gonna do to a student? It could be even worse.”
She reported that she will not be returning home for winter break due to fear of her country’s relationship with the United States interfering with the process of returning to the U.S. Alternatives to returning home are limited by the fact that Sarah Lawrence College does not provide housing options over break. However, there are available accommodations not directly affiliated with the school and further guidance available, according to Residential Life.
The consensus of interviewed students is that the Trump administration’s changes to visa regulation has prompted students to be more wary of student visa revocation. Students are confused and concerned, resorting to self-censorship to ensure they are able to continue their education in the United States.
One student summarized her visa experience as “very dystopian [because] if you don’t behave a certain way, it could all be taken away.”
References
Announcement of Expanded Screening and Vetting for Visa Applicants. (2025, June 18). U.S. Department of State. https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/06/announcement-of-expanded-screening-and-vetting-for-visa-applicants
Faguy, A. (2025, August 18). US revokes 6,000 student visas, State Department says. BBC. Retrieved November 4, 2025, from https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz93vznxd07o
International Student Services. (n.d.). MySLC. https://my.slc.edu/ICS/Campus_Life/Departments/International_Students/
Law, Government & Activism. (n.d.). Sarah Lawrence College. https://www.sarahlawrence.edu/student-life/career-services/career-communities/government.html#policy
Maintaining Status. (n.d.). Department of Homeland Security. https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/students/maintaining-status
Megerian, C. (2025, September 27). US revokes visa for Colombia’s president after he urges American soldiers to disobey Trump. Associated Press News. https://apnews.com/article/gustavo-petro-colombia-visa-trump-disobey-orders-ebca5169a8323ef087b709c5b8dc69b1
Optional Practical Training (OPT) for F-1 Students. (2024, November 25). USCIS. Retrieved December 9, 2025, from https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/students-and-exchange-visitors/optional-practical-training-opt-for-f-1-students
Student Visa. (n.d.). U.S. Department of State. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/study/student-visa.html
