The Old Blog in the Desert

If you’re coming to the United States on a student visa, you best mind your P’s & Q’s and every consonant in between.

There’s a peculiar wind blowing through the halls of learning these days—a mean, sharp wind, bureaucratic in flavor and most disagreeable in effect. College presidents from Mankato to Tuscaloosa to UNLV are scratching their heads and tugging their whiskers to understand why the federal government is suddenly treating foreign students like they’ve stumbled into Vatican City without the Pope’s blessing.

At Minnesota State, Edward Inch—who seems to be in charge of the joint—reported that five international students had their visas yanked with no more explanation than a chicken gets before it becomes Sunday dinner.

It wasn’t always the way. Foreign students who got their Visa clipped early could still finish their studies, but now it’s wham-bam, pack your bags, and don’t let the airport scanner hit you on the way out.

One unlawful soul down at the University of Minnesota—a Turkish fellow—got picked up for a drunk driving conviction, and before he knew it, he got detoured out of the country. Another from Columbia, Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and a green card holder, was scooped up for his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests.

And Secretary of State Marco Rubio says they’re targeting “potential criminal activity,” translated from government-speak, meaning anything from an overdue library book to Antisemitism, which is what Khailil was acting upon.

Universities are acting flabbergasted, not because they’ve never dealt with immigration issues, but because now the government ain’t telling them what’s going on. Of course, it ain’t the institution’s place to know since the agreement is between Uncle Sam and the cardholder.

Down at North Carolina State, two Saudi students packed their bags and fled the country after learning secondhand their legal status was toast. One of their housemates swore on a stack of TV Guides that the two boys weren’t political in the least—never even mutter about Gaza, much less march for it.

It’s the same in Texas, Oregon, Cornell, and more. Some students didn’t know they were persona non grata until immigration agents gave them a gentle tap on the shoulder—followed by a less gentle escort to detention.

Now, don’t mistake the tone. The law is the law, and a nation has every right to know who’s within its borders and why. But, we built our ivory towers to welcome the world’s best and brightest, and now, the time has come to yank the “Welcome” sign and put out one readin’ “Closed for Business.”

There’s a law–little known and little used, that says folks can get the boot for causing “serious adverse foreign policy consequences.” So, to all the wide-eyed foreign folks thinking of coming to study in the land of the free–bring your books, pack your hopes—but forget your foreign politics.