UW International Students: Fear, Anxiety, and Uncertainty in Trump's Capricious Visa Policies

By Ashlyn Bowman

One Hong Kong student at the University of Washington no longer raises her hand in class for fear of drawing attention to herself. Another student from Taiwan doesn’t react to social media posts that might seem at all anti-Trump.

Those are just small snapshots of how fear, anxiety, and uncertainty have affected some international students at the University of Washington amid the Trump administration’s terminations – and occasionally later reinstatement – of foreign student visas across the nation.

Early in April, the federal government revoked the visas of 13 current University of Washington students and 10 recent graduates in postgraduate training, without giving prior notice or explanation to the university or the individuals affected, according to a UW News Public Statement. On April 28, though, UW announced in a public statement that all UW international Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records have been restored.

International students have long been a core part of the UW culture. In the Autumn 2024 academic quarter, there were 7,830 international students, accounting for 13% of the total student body population, according to the International Students at UW and Visa details. The number of international students at UW has remained relatively steady over the last decade.

https://www.postalley.org/2025/05/15/uw-international-students-fear-anxiety-and-uncertainty-in-trumps-capricious-visa-policies/