Deporting international students risks making the US a less attractive destination, putting its economic engine at risk
The ConversationMAY 4
Iranian PhD Student Self-Deports After 42-Day Detention
Above: Bibb Graves Hall on the campus of the University of Alabama on Sept. 22, 2018, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Image copyright: Wesley Hitt/Contributor/Getty Images Sport via Getty Images
The Spin
Republican narrative
International students are in the U.S. at the leisure of the government, and retention of that status is a privilege and not a right. We are only hearing one side of the story here, and we do not know what national security concerns were at stake. Regardless, the U.S. has every right to maintain a stringent immigration system to keep the country safe. Visitors cannot spread hatred or undermine national security interests.
Democratic narrative
The Trump administration has made the U.S. a hostile place for some of the best and brightest, who all dream of studying at American colleges and universities. The seemingly arbitrary and politically motivated deportations are designed to stifle dissent in academia and will have a chilling effect on society at large. President Trump’s immigration policies have cast the Constitution and American values to the wayside.