MANY REACHED OUT TO MAKE SURE I STILL FELT WELCOME
On July 6, a bombshell dropped on the lives of over 1 million international students living in the United States.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security, announced that foreign students enrolled in universities planning to host fully online courses in the fall would have to leave the country or face deportation. The news sent shockwaves across the country, with universities scrambling to protect their international students while also following public health guidelines. After numerous lawsuits from states, universities and corporations, the Trump administration decided Tuesday to rescind the guidelines.
The news came as a victory for students across the country — especially for those who feared going home to war-torn countries, who lacked sufficient financial resources or who didn’t have flights between the U.S. and their home countries.
As an international student living in San Diego the past five years, last week’s news was shocking and disappointing. Having grown up as an immigrant in Asia for much of my life, my parents invested their life savings to send me to the United States for a great education. More than that, they sent me here to get a crack at the American dream.
For the most part, I’ve tasted bits and pieces of it. During my undergraduate years at San Diego State University, I got involved on campus, led a student organization, hosted events for diversity and inclusion, and made lifelong friendships with locals. I also wanted to be a responsible, contributing member of the San Diego community.
In college, I worked for a law enforcement agency and a City Hall office in hopes of learning how a dynamic and diverse society like the United States works, how its values of freedom and democracy shape the lives of its citizens here and abroad, and how its entrepreneurial spirit has created the world’s strongest, most robust economy.
I became a writer and wrote about politics and community affairs in the Filipino-american community, and eventually worked for a nonprofit educational organization. I did this all while harboring the fear that I may never be fully part of American society, simply because of my lack of citizenship.
And my story isn’t unique. Many of my professors were once international students who braved the same flight away from family, who worked hard to receive advanced degrees to create better lives for their children. I know friends who haven’t seen their parents and siblings for years, just to avoid visa complications and to stay focused on their work.
Though there are students who come here without fully immersing themselves in American society, many of us come with dreams to build companies, create jobs for others and become leaders in our respective fields. Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk, for example, came to the U.S. from South Africa as a student before entering the tech scene and founding X.com, which merged with another company to become Paypal. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, on the other hand, came as students from India with a determination to build the companies that would give them once-in-a-lifetime career opportunities. The ICE guidelines last week would have prevented thousands of students from pursuing a similar path — and from being on the cutting edge of science and technology to help millions of Americans during this global pandemic and recession.
Thanks to legal efforts by states, universities from coast to coast, and religious organizations, international students can now continue their studies without fear of deportation. This was made possible by the support from citizens across the nation, who had taken to Twitter, Facebook and major news outlets in support of the economic output and diversity that international students bring. Hundreds of thousands signed petitions. University of San Diego President James T. Harris and Patricia Márquez, dean of USD’S Kroc School of Peace Studies, where I am an incoming graduate student, had issued statements vowing to support our international student body.
My American friends, professors, and colleagues had reached out to make sure I feel welcomed in this country. Amid all the chaos going on, that’s what mattered the most.
I still believe that America’s best days are ahead, and that most Americans care about the safety and humanity of their neighbors and guests. That is the country that brought me and millions of students and immigrants to the shores where anything is possible.
And that’s the country I have seen again moving forward.