International students anticipate changes to visa, immigration laws under Biden

Some international students said they were concerned about their U.S. immigration status during President Donald Trump’s administration and said they hoped President-elect Joe Biden’s presidency would improve job stability.

Biden plans to roll back many of Trump’s immigration policies, including Trump’s travel ban against people from majority-Muslim countries that went into effect in 2017. In addition, Biden promises to reform the temporary visa system and increase the number of visas offered for permanent, work-based immigration.

Margaret Peters, an associate professor of political science, said when it comes to immigration policies, Biden will probably start with the more controversial ones, like the travel ban against people from majority-Muslim countries and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Peters said the Trump administration implemented many rules that made life harder for immigrants and international students.

Rolling back these policies and creating new ones may take time, however, since many of Trump’s policies will have to be undone through a formal legislative process, and the speed of decisions may depend on the control of Congress, Peters said.

“But we do expect also that the Biden administration will probably work to increase immigration where they can,” Peters said.

Under the Trump administration, many international students said they were concerned about their status in the U.S.

The Wall Street Journal reported in May 2020 that the Trump administration was planning to suspend the Optional Practical Training program, which allows some international students to stay in the U.S. for up to a year after they graduate. And in July, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Trump administration tried to limit entry to the U.S.for returning international students to only those taking in-person classes.

The ICE decision faced significant backlash and lawsuits from many universities and the order was later rescinded. The University of California issued its own lawsuit against the ICE decision in July.

Despite efforts to counter Trump’s policies, newly enrolled international students are still unable to come to the U.S. if they are not taking in-person classes.

Pietro Mendes, a third-year business economics student from Brazil, said he thought about taking a quarter off but realized he couldn’t because his visa requires him to finish his degree in four years.

“Part of the reason why we pay the tuition … is because you’re actually in LA, you’re meeting people in every single class,” Mendes said.

Christos Cassoulides, a third-year economics student from Cyprus, said the ICE decision disrupted his plans for fall quarter.

Cassoulides said he stopped looking for housing after he realized would not be able to return to Westwood because he was not planning to take any in-person classes. And by the time the ICE decision was rescinded, he said it was getting significantly harder to find off-campus housing.

International students said the end of the OPT program was another obstacle they had to face during the Trump administration.

Peters said that in ending OPT, the Trump administration intended to favor American graduates in the job market, though she did not see an economic reason for this initiative.

“I don’t really think it’s an economic argument,” Peters said. “It’s really part of just the broader Trump administration push to end legal immigration as we know it.”

Leo Dantas, a recent UCLA alumnus from Brazil, said just knowing that Trump may target the OPT program made him feel unwelcome in the U.S. He said he hopes the Biden administration will be different.

“People are trying to put (up) a lot of barriers and sometimes it makes sense, (but) sometimes it definitely does not,” he said.

Mendes said he also feared he would not be able to find a job after graduating that would allow him to stay in the country. Many international students like him rely on the OPT program to remain in the U.S. after graduation.

Without the OPT program or an employer willing to sponsor them, students can only stay in the U.S. for 60 days after they graduate.

Cassoulides said he only heard about the high quality of education U.S. universities had to offer, not how tough and complicated it would be to face immigration issues and visa requirements.

“Being an immigrant in the United States gets harder every year,” Cassoulides said. “Especially in the past decade, it has become extremely hard in terms of staying in the United States.”

Peters said she hopes to see more policy plans from Biden expanding international student education in a way that supports both the students and the university, such as more funding for universities.

Although many felt relief about Biden’s victory, some said they don’t know if Biden will be able to enact profound change in the immigration or visa systems.

“I feel like the changes are probably not going to come so quickly the way most people would like,” Mendes said, “I feel that, really, it’s more of a psychological impact for me, because now I’m feeling way more relaxed about getting a job.”

Cassoulides said that he thinks the biggest changes that have come with the election of Biden are in people’s sentiments.

“(Biden’s election) gave me hope that we might forget this aggressiveness and isolation,” Dantas said. “That’s the world I really believe in … It made me feel that what I wanted would actually be achieved in the short term.”