Some international students are worried about their future under the Trump administration, with fears regarding their visa status and ability to remain in the United States.
International students made up 26.6% of the USC student body in fall 2024, ranking fifth in the nation and first in California for the most international students. In December, the school sent an email urging international students to return to the U.S. before President Trump’s inauguration due to the possibility of being denied entry.
In a statement to Annenberg Media, Vionna Huang, chair of university affairs for the International Student Assembly, acknowledged that many students feared repercussions if they left the country, and that many chose to stay on campus instead of visiting family.
“I’m working with USC Admissions and OIS on an international student welcome series project to make the travel process easier for admitted international students, hopefully through an updated website with step-by-step instructions,” Huang wrote.
Momo Liu, a graduate student from China studying marriage and family therapy, said her international peers are worried about whether they can stay in the U.S. after they finish their degree.
“I believe most of the students are more concerned about their [visas] after graduation,” Liu said, “H-1B visas, those immigrant kind of visas, they’re more concerned.”
H-1B visas allow employers in the United States to seek out skilled workers from foreign countries. The visa requires the worker to have a bachelor’s degree or higher degree in a field related to their area of work. Typically, these visas are granted for three years but can be granted for up to six years. Of the 85,000 new H-1B visas that are granted each year, 20,000 are reserved for international students with master’s degrees from U.S. universities.
During the first Trump administration, a record-breaking 24% of H-1B applications were denied in 2018, according to the BBC. This compares with 5-8% under President Obama and 2-4% under President Biden.
Lynn Wee, a sophomore studying astronomy, said they do not know what they will do after graduating in light of the new administration.
“Honestly, seeing how it’s all going downhill, I don’t even know, like everything feels really uncertain, especially with all the rumors of international students being deported,” they said. “It’s still something that kind of instills fear in your heart, in anyone’s heart, so I might just get my degree and get out.”
Earlier this week, new Attorney General Pam Bondi started a task force that would allow the
Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute “acts of terrorism, antisemitic civil rights violations, and other federal crimes committed by Hamas supporters in the United States, including on college campuses,” according to the Office of the Attorney General.
Additionally, Trump issued an executive order last week that laid the groundwork for universities to take direct action against students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests last spring.
Liu noticed peers within both her Mandarin-speaking community and USC Rossier cohort have been hesitant to talk about politics. She was living in China when student protests erupted over the war in Gaza but noticed international students were less likely to participate.
“I see people are talking about, if you are international students, do not go to the protest and don’t participate because you may get consequences [that] are huge compared to the domestic students,” Liu said.
When asked about other Trump administration orders, like freezing NIH funding and targeting DEI positions, USC wrote “We are reviewing all executive actions, and we follow all state and federal laws.”