How will Trump's win affect international students?

MYOS1634
Sat, 12 Nov 2016 12:36:54 +0000

I mostly work with European families. Some are located in cities that were hit by terror attacks and safety was one of their motivations, since odds of sudden harm seem lower due to distance from terror centers (random radicalized individual odds are seen as similar or lower) alongside the idea the US will be more tolerant for upwardly mobile minority kids. The US seemed a protection against the kind of hate, rhetoric, and fear created by Brexit, AfD, FN.
I also work with expat families in the US and right now the trend is ‘Should we leave?’ 'Should we move? ’ Not in the typical 'if X wins I’ll move to Canada ’ usual knee jerk reaction, but for real.
Americans abroad are also in a difficult position although so far they’ve not encountered hostility that I know of. It seems that reactions veer from ridicule to pity and curiosity. As background to what I said above, you should know European citizens have started a petition they plan to project onto Trump Tower - that’s how widespread those reactions are. The person who sent it to me was promptly told off (I was actually offended) but pretty much all the families are freaking out and upset because deadlines are 2-6weeks from now and suddenly the us reveals itself to be something else than they thought it was, they’re scared to send their kids to that unrecognizable country, to put them in harm’s way, they have little time and don’t know what to do.