International Students And The 2020 Election

 by Haochen Long

Something truly monumental and historical might have just happened in the past two weeks — the 2020 Election. In this journal, I would like to discuss the experience of international students with this year’s election and American political discussions in general.

As someone who has been studying as an international student in the United States for seven years, I often find myself in an awkward place in many social and political discussions. I have experienced xenophobia and exclusion over and over again in these discussions. Whenever I engage in a social or political conversation, they ask the golden question: “Where are you from?” As soon as they find out that I am an international student, more than half of the time, I get asked: “then why do you even care.” Or they would bluntly say: “it’s none of your business,” “what do you know,” or “stay out of our politics.” 

So I’d like to use personal stories and statistics to answer this question — why we care and why we are rightful to care. One of my international student friends from Shanghai, China, texted me on election night. They said that they’d no longer wish to return to the United States and pursue their degree in this country if Trump gets reelected. This conversation with them had me thinking about how the political environment could prominently affect my community that some people marginalize as “foreigners.” International students frequently face these kinds of xenophobia and discrimination. Such accumulated frustrations peaked when the President called a world-wide pandemic “Kung-flu” and “Chinese Virus.” The administration’s attempt to issue a ban and expulsion of international scholars from the country has resulted in communities’ utter disappointment in the country. 

Figure 1: President Trump Calling Covid-19 "Kung-Flu"

Unfortunately, what our Chinese international students are going through right now is nothing new in the U.S. In fact, under Trump’s Administration’s anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant policies in the past four years, a large number of international scholars with Muslim backgrounds have already been targeted and severely impacted by the exclusive and xenophobic political and social atmosphere. Thousands of international students “are even considering withdrawing from their degree programs and leaving the U.S. altogether because they do not want to spend long continuous periods away from their families without the possibility of traveling home periodically.”(Rose-Redwood, 3)

Figure 2: Protests Against Studnet Expulsion and Student Bans

So for the people that say international students should not care or comment on the election and politics, it is just their ignorance talking. During the 2015-2016 academic year alone, “there were 1,043,839 international students studying at higher education institutions in the United States.” (Rose-Redwood, 2) This number makes up over 5% of the total student population in the country. (Rose-Redwood, 3) It makes absolutely no sense for anyone to attempt to marginalize and silence over a million people when their literal lives and futures are at stake.

On the other hand, Biden’s victory in the election might be a moment of triumph for a lot of communities and people indeed. However, the international student community is still quite tense and scared. A lot of us advocated for change and encouraged our U.S. citizen friends to vote for that. However, our struggles were never really a part of the discussion. In other words, a large number of us probably took a stance on this affair as a “dead-end vs. uncertainty” situation. I fear if xenophobic policies like the travel ban do not get lifted, my friends’ consideration of withdrawals might just come true. After all, how long can our students continue paying thousands of dollars to attend 3:00 am lectures and 5:00 am exams on the other side of the planet. 

Figure 3: President-elect Joe Biden Giving Speech

Overall, I hope this 2020 election could be a turning point for change. I also hope my community’s stories could serve as a reminder for our domestic friends. I wish to remind them that international students are a lot more relevant and also vulnerable than some people think we are. We are not just wealthy foreign tourists that randomly came to the states for fun. A large number of us came, sometimes even out of necessity, to seek education and job opportunities. It seems like a lot of Americans have forgotten the globally famous concept of the “American dream.” I say it is nothing but a nightmare when only some people are allowed to dream, but others are not. 

Works Cited 

Rose-Redwood, Cindy Ann, and Reuben Rose-Redwood. “Rethinking the Politics of The International Student Experience in the Age of Trump.” Journal of International Students, 2017, www.ojed.org/index.php/jis/article/view/201/151.