Trump to Students — ‘Don’t Come’
Published in El País
(Spain) on 2 June 2025
by (link to original)
Suspending visas to study in the U.S. is an ignorant snub to the intellectual and economic wealth of international education.
Donald Trump’s order to U.S. consulates around the world to suspend all interviews for visas to study in the United States represents a direct attack on the country’s educational institutions and the very spirit of the university as a universal institution. In this way, Trump is trying to apply his shortsighted and destructive nationalist view to both higher education and academic research. Regardless of how much the Republican president proclaims otherwise in his absurd war on universities, restricting access to foreign students does not strengthen the United States, but rather impoverishes it. And not only in economic terms — international students and professors annually contribute billions of dollars to the economy — but above all in human capital, diversity of thought and international outreach.
This controversial decision may also lead to a brain drain. The U.S. president should take into account not only the intellectual wealth of those who study in his country but also what they contribute in very tangible terms, such as discoveries and patents.
Trump clearly demonstrates a failure to understand that universities are places to build collective knowledge that have generated not only scientific advances but also the ideas that have shaped our world. And he is lying when he claims to defend his country’s traditions. It is no coincidence that U.S. universities dominate international rankings; they attract global talent, and, in return, they are enriched intellectually and culturally.
More worrisome still is the possibility, revealed by the U.S. press, that the White House is considering investigating the social media accounts of all student visa applicants. This initiative would de facto place the U.S. on a dangerous path of population surveillance typical of a dictatorship. Freedom of expression is especially protected in the U.S. Submitting foreign students and researchers to this scrutiny opens the door to establishing dangerous ideological control, not only for foreigners who can decide not to attend, but also for anyone on U.S. soil.
Donald Trump’s order to U.S. consulates around the world to suspend all interviews for visas to study in the United States represents a direct attack on the country’s educational institutions and the very spirit of the university as a universal institution. In this way, Trump is trying to apply his shortsighted and destructive nationalist view to both higher education and academic research. Regardless of how much the Republican president proclaims otherwise in his absurd war on universities, restricting access to foreign students does not strengthen the United States, but rather impoverishes it. And not only in economic terms — international students and professors annually contribute billions of dollars to the economy — but above all in human capital, diversity of thought and international outreach.
This controversial decision may also lead to a brain drain. The U.S. president should take into account not only the intellectual wealth of those who study in his country but also what they contribute in very tangible terms, such as discoveries and patents.
Trump clearly demonstrates a failure to understand that universities are places to build collective knowledge that have generated not only scientific advances but also the ideas that have shaped our world. And he is lying when he claims to defend his country’s traditions. It is no coincidence that U.S. universities dominate international rankings; they attract global talent, and, in return, they are enriched intellectually and culturally.
More worrisome still is the possibility, revealed by the U.S. press, that the White House is considering investigating the social media accounts of all student visa applicants. This initiative would de facto place the U.S. on a dangerous path of population surveillance typical of a dictatorship. Freedom of expression is especially protected in the U.S. Submitting foreign students and researchers to this scrutiny opens the door to establishing dangerous ideological control, not only for foreigners who can decide not to attend, but also for anyone on U.S. soil.
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