Many foreign students have fled the US amid the pandemic, going back to their home countries while they await word from university administrators about whether they will be able to come back to campus in the fall. But some have stayed in the US — and a new Trump policy would force them to either return home, transfer to programs with in-person classes, or potentially face deportation.
The news has been a blow to students like João Cardoso, a rising senior at Yale University from Portugal on an F-1 student visa, for whom going home isn’t really an option.
His mother lives in a single rented room, and he is locked into a lease that doesn’t expire until next May. Yale subsidizes his housing as part of his financial aid package; if he were to leave the country, that money could disappear, and so would his ability to make rent. Continue reading.