As members of Georgetown’s class of 2029 eagerly shared their acceptances to social media, one student was setting his accounts to private. For A. (CAS ’29), a Japanese international student living in Singapore, a Georgetown acceptance came with intensive social media screenings to receive his F-1 student visa.
A. removed much of his social media activity from the internet, including any posts that could suggest his political views.
“I had to unlike a lot of the posts that I liked from [The] New York Times, for example, that were pro-abortion, pro-immigrants,” A. said. “That was definitely a hassle.”
This new social media vetting process came after the Trump administration paused all student visa interviews for three weeks in May and June of 2025. The pause caused delays and confusion for students in the class of 2029.
Just a day before matriculation, A.’s student visa was approved. One of his peers, an Indian citizen set to attend Boston College in the fall, was unable to secure his visa in time and ultimately enrolled at a university in the United Kingdom.
As President Trump continues to threaten visa revocations and implement travel bans, international students are forced to constantly adapt and rely on university support to navigate the changes. All students who spoke to the Voice have requested anonymity for fear of jeopardizing their visas and will be referred to by an initial.
A. has found university resources from Georgetown’s Office of Global Services helpful during his transition into college.
“I feel quite supported when it comes to procedures I don’t know about,” A. said. “For example, one to two months before Thanksgiving break, I got an email about how I could prepare if I wanted to leave the country.”
Even with this support, A. made backup plans in response to the anti-international student rhetoric from the Trump administration. In May 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) barred Harvard University from enrolling international students. In January, Georgetown joined 47 universities in filing an amicus brief supporting Harvard’s lawsuit challenging DHS.
While A. loves being a Hoya, he has been applying to international universities while enrolled, out of fear that the administration could broaden their international student ban to include current Georgetown students.
“I actually did apply to the UK just in case Trump got worse,” A. said. “My mom was super paranoid, so she forced me to apply.”
As higher education institutions adjust to new policies under the Trump administration, students remain cautious.
K. (SFS ’28), an international student from Europe, said that she hesitates to speak openly about her political views in person, as well as on social media.
“I feel okay talking about what’s going on with my international friends because we’re all in the same boat. But with Americans, you just never know what kind of views the person you’re talking to has on the current administration,” K. said.
Other shifts to their everyday lives include the university’s recommendation that students carry their visa documents while off-campus; this suggestion was publicized in their international student newsletter on Jan. 9.
G. (CAS ’29), an international student from Ecuador, said that this recommendation, while necessary, is a reflection of racial profiling by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.
“Having to carry around your documents just because you’re existing is not normal,” G. said. “That’s something that happens in war-torn nations like during World War II in Germany.”
While G. hasn’t personally experienced discrimination from ICE while studying in the U.S., the administration’s rhetoric about Latino immigrants impacts the treatment of his community.
“For my people, as a Latino, it’s dehumanizing,” G. said. “The conversation has shifted to are they illegal migrants, criminals? Instead of, are they human? That does not bode well for anyone coming here.”
Despite his frustration, protest isn’t an option for G. The university recommended that international students refrain from engaging in protests and demonstrations during the International Student Orientation.
“Protest is essentially a red line,” G. said. “Understanding that your parents are paying so much for you to be here, even if you want to speak out, it’s just not a choice. Especially not one that you can make knowing it might not just get you deported, but sent to detainment, and result in being sent to God knows where.”
While international students focus on navigating campus life, many are also concerned about their professional futures. The Trump administration has increased the entry fee to $100,000 for H-1B holders, a work visa status for specialty occupations that many international students could have post-graduation.
B. (CAS ’28), an international student from Asia, worries that her international student status could impact her competitiveness in the job market with the recent policy changes.
“I feel like there’s a lot of misinformation or unknowns,” B. said, referring to the internship and job application process under the Trump administration.
Georgetown has over 470 international students on its undergraduate campus, drawing from over 130 countries. A university spokesperson said that Georgetown has a long history of legally advocating for its international students, and continues to dedicate support to the community.
“As a global institution, Georgetown welcomes and supports students from across the world,” the spokesperson wrote. “Georgetown is guided by its mission, which highlights the importance of serious and sustained discourse among individuals of different faiths, cultures and beliefs.
B. said that her value as an international student is demonstrated in both the classroom and social environments.
“I feel like my upbringing was so different from the people here,” B. said. “It’s always interesting to discuss things with people that have a different point of view and a different lived experience.”
