Two weeks ago, the Orient reported on institutional perspectives, actions and commentary regarding the increasing on institutional perspectives, actions and commentary regarding the increasing precarity of international students’ safety and visa statuses in the wake of President Donald Trump’s reelection. Travel bans, delays in visa interviews, new social media vetting procedures and the spike in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids have left college students and faculty across the country concerned for international students’ abilities to remain on United States campuses in the coming years.

This report focuses on international student voices regarding these dangers. Because of the Trump administration’s crackdown on politically vocal international students, the students are quoted anonymously to preserve their safety.

Political speech and organizing

On May 27, the Department of State halted the scheduling of student visa interviews. After three weeks, the department lifted the pause and implemented stricter vetting procedures surrounding screening of perceived antisemitic political speech.

Throughout the month of May, Associate Class Dean Danielle Hussey, who is also the designated dean for F-1 visa holders, sent emails advising international students to remain in the U.S.

“If you are planning travel outside of the U.S., please consider that immigration policy changes can be announced with little or no warning. While we do not know—as of this writing—of specific changes that would impact Bowdoin’s F-1 international students directly, we encourage you to exercise caution,” Hussey wrote in an email to international students.

The Orient has been unable to reach Hussey for further comment.

An international student from the class of 2027 stated that members of the College’s administration advised him to remain aware of his social media presence following the implementation of new vetting procedures. However, he noted that administrators did not give clear guidelines on what speech would put international students at risk.

“Admin would keep telling us to be careful. They would tell us to follow the news [and] to be updated, but they wouldn’t tell us specifically what to do in that regard,” he said. “The reason all of the internationals know intuitively what to do is because they are following the politics. Trump explicitly says internationals are supposed to come here for education, not to speak about politics and not to insert their opinions that are unwanted.”

Another international student from the class of 2027 noted that the College’s administration, particularly Hussey, is most likely in a difficult position when it comes to advising students about political speech.

“[The College’s advice] was very vague language,” the student said. “I think they were toeing the line between feeling bad that they’re essentially politically silencing us but also trying to be realistic about the state of the world.”

Both students scrubbed their social media accounts of language critical towards either the U.S. or Israel.

“I no longer post any political speech whatsoever on Instagram,” the first student said. “I no longer interact with political media on Instagram or social media.… Any criticisms towards the U.S.—I’m not saying those. I try to not mention Israel or Palestine in [my] language or ever participate in any such conversations.”

The second student noted that, because her home country is considered part of the “third world,” she already held cynicism regarding her right to freedom of speech in the U.S. To her, recent vetting procedures and crackdowns on international student protesters are a continuation of established U.S. history.

“I wasn’t really surprised to see what was happening,” she said. “I come from a third-world country…, so I think I was pretty disillusioned with the state of freedom of speech, if you can even call it that in [the U.S.]. I was afraid of getting deported, frankly, for doing any kind of activist work, but also at the same time, I feel like my existence in this country was inherently an issue.”

Life outside of Bowdoin

For many international students, especially those from higher-risk countries, life outside of Bowdoin remains uncertain. When the Trump administration’s travel bans began barring entry for students from 12 countries and restricting entry for several more earlier this year, a student from the class of 2027 described his constant worry, especially when it came to preparing for school breaks.

“[International students] just stalked the news,” he said. “Trump would keep reannouncing the list of countries that are banned, or there would be lists [of countries] that are proposed or in consideration. We would look up those lists and [worry] not only if our country was on that list, but also if there are any adjacent countries or countries that are similar to us.”

For another student, these bans meant that she would be unable to go back home for breaks or study abroad.

“I was planning to study abroad in France. I’m taking French classes right now, [but] I’m not studying abroad now,” she said.

She described feeling isolated and alone during breaks, and having to be away from her family, especially as most other students leave campus.

“It does feel like we’re being tokenized a lot. Like, ‘Oh my God, we have all these people from these different countries,’” she said. “There are students who stay on campus [during breaks] and feel super isolated.… [The College] places all of the burden on the International Student Association [where] everyone’s burnt out and tired. And it’s honestly not their job.”

Another student described the distress they felt upon hearing that Selima Terras’ ’26 visa had been rejected. They had found this out not from the College but through word of mouth.

“I’ve recently found out that there’s an international student who couldn’t come back to the [U.S.]…. I don’t think I processed it quite well enough yet, but I do feel a little betrayed that this wasn’t made at least a little more a bit more public. I think it’s possible to do it without violating the privacy of that student,” they said.

Divides between international students and College administration

On a larger scale, many international students have described feeling sidelined at Bowdoin in terms of the infrastructure that they are provided by the College.

While the administration provides or assists with the paperwork required for students to be allowed to stay at Bowdoin, multiple students have found themselves struggling with tax documentation in particular. Because international students’ countries each have different paperwork and procedures with U.S. taxes, many students are left feeling unclear on how to submit their taxes.

One student said that Lynne Toussaint, the former finance director of payroll and accounts payable, had been helpful in tax advising. However, since Toussaint’s retirement, he described feeling largely responsible for his own taxation documentation without knowing for certain that he was submitting the correct documents.

“Tax documents are very specific by country, and the process is also specific,” he said. “It’s not like you can get a lot of specific help from upperclassmen.… If you have specific questions, it’s not like anyone’s going to help you.… I was always just making guesses and taking risks.”

Another student recounted that because of a clerical error in their tax documents, the system that generates tax documents for student workers listed a self-employed income on their documents. As a visa holder, they are not allowed to have self-employed income and would have faced the threat of deportation had they submitted that document to the Internal Revenue Service. The student stated that they were responsible for both fixing the tax issue and communicating the danger this issue would cause.

“The rest of the spring, I was having conversations and long, long email threads with the person who is in charge of taxes [at the College]…. It’s been a very ongoing issue. I can’t say that [the College has] been entirely unhelpful. Obviously, in the end, it worked out the way I needed it to work out,” they said. “But I definitely felt like it was primarily my issue, and I had to advocate for myself.”

Other students have also found themselves frustrated with the lack of institutional resources.

“Everything’s kind of catered towards people who are citizens here,” one student said. “I get why they obviously wouldn’t allocate [all] their resources towards that because the international population is literally like five percent here. But also, [international students] have come here and sought out a way to come here.”

For international students, the lack of dedicated infrastructure designed for their support is frustrating and disconcerting, resulting in a disconnect between the College and its students.

“We are generally, in all aspects, being sidelined, if that makes sense.… There isn’t a center for international students, which I think is crazy,” a student said. “Academically, in terms of student life, in terms of advocating for students—like what [is the College] doing?”