To speak or not to speak: The challenges of navigating protests as an international student

How shifting immigration policies and campus crackdowns are forcing international students to weigh solidarity against the risks of losing their futures in the United States. 

Photo by Jacquie Traenkle/The Barnard Bulletin

By Pavlina Solomou

November 17, 2025

It is no secret that the status of international students in the United States has changed drastically in the span of a few months. From the cancellation of all visa interview appointments in early May, to the revocation of over 1000 student visas and the arrest and detention of numerous F-1 visa holders under the executive order titled “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism,” signed on January 29 by the current president, it suffices to say that international students are currently experiencing anything but warm, American hospitality.

It is important to acknowledge that while the current government has been largely criticized for the implementation of policies that restrict the agency of international students, such as the above, it is by no means the only one to do so. 

After all, it was the Bush administration that implemented the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) in January 2003, an online database that allows the government to track the information of nonimmigrant students and their dependents created as a direct response to the 9/11 attacks. Moreover, SEVIS worked in tandem with the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), first launched on September 11, 2002, which has, since its termination, been largely recognised as a government tool that enabled the systematic targeting of Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian nonimmigrants. These individuals were subjected to extensive vetting, secondary interviews, and heightened monitoring under the banner of national security. 

The complete suspension of U.S. visa issuance effective on June 9, 2025 for a total of 12 countries is thus neither the first nor the last example of discrimination codified into immigration policy affecting citizens of non-Western, Muslim-majority nations. The legacy of these policies only informs present-day attitudes and strategies towards protests, affecting the most vulnerable of student populations. 

Although the privileges of a nonimmigrant visa, such as a student visa, far exceed those granted for other statuses in the U.S., they have historically reflected the attitudes towards foreigners within this country and, as a result, have undergone significant changes. Since January, these fluctuations have been laid bare by the government’s response to protests. 

Today, international students navigate a fraught balance between solidarity and self-preservation. Their visibility at protests can carry legal and personal consequences, putting at risk the very legal status that allows them to remain in the country. As the definition of “lawful conduct” continuously changes and the constitutional rights of F-1 visa holders are put into question, that balancing task grows in complexity. 

“Knowing the risks, I don’t really go to protests anymore,” said an international Barnard student in her sophomore year. The student, who has asked to remain anonymous, volunteers at a legal assistance clinic and fears that her association with immigration support could jeopardize her visa status. “I don’t post on LinkedIn about the work I do, right? I don’t. Even on Goodreads. I don't post the books that I read.” 

When asked about how she personally navigates the volatilities of an F-1 visa status, the student responded: “Let’s say they were to deport me, most likely they would send me back to my home country, and that would be [an EU member state].” The student stressed the importance of the privilege of coming from a peaceful and politically stable country that she could theoretically return to without jeopardizing her safety. “I think that’s really important to mention, because many people come here with passports from countries that they [...] cannot return to,” she continued. “Higher education, for some people, is a means of getting out.”

At universities that champion diversity and free speech, the silence of international students has become an unspoken contradiction. Columbia and Barnard are no exception to this phenomenon. On the contrary, they have become a cautionary tale, warning international students nationwide about the fragility of their nonimmigrant status and their constitutional rights. 

“So, on one hand, I’m excited to graduate,” the student concluded. “To live a little bit normally and not feel like I have to go underground” — a statement that, in itself, encompasses how navigating protests with an F-1 visa can turn synonymous with navigating silence, fear, and guilt.