From ambush arrests to self-deport: How Trump is threatening foreign students

A sweeping crackdown by the Trump administration is targeting foreign students across US campuses, using AI surveillance, visa revocations, and ideological screening to punish perceived dissent. Under the banner of combating antisemitism and restoring “order,” the government is pushing universities to police speech, dismantle academic programs, and comply with politically charged demands—or risk devastating funding cuts. International students, once welcomed as scholars, now face detention, deportation, and digital monitoring for mere activism or online expression. What began as policy enforcement has become a full-scale reengineering of academic freedom, immigration norms, and the soul of US higher education.