Because of Trump's policies .. American universities in captivity

Mohamed Minshawi-Washington

The decision by the US Immigration Authorities to block the admission of Palestinian student Ismail Ajawi to begin his studies at Harvard University after being accepted by the university, reveals the suffering experienced by students wishing to attend American universities due to the hardline administration of President Donald Trump.

Harvard University is continuing its contacts with US immigration officials in an effort to bring back 17-year-old Ajawi as the Boston airport passport officer discovered people spreading political views against the United States on his social media list.

"This person seemed unacceptable to the United States, based on information they discovered during the investigation," Michael McCarthy, a spokesman for the Department of Customs and Border Protection, told the Harvard Crimson newspaper.

Ajawi sent a letter to the same newspaper saying that he was interrogated for hours, searched his phone and personal computer, and asked him about his religious beliefs, before the passport officer told him that she had found people spreading anti-American political views on his list of friends on the websites.

The Palestinian student responded by saying that he had no involvement in such publications that he did not like, share or comment on, and told her that he was not responsible for what the other published.

"The student has been prevented from entering the United States after his arrival, and Harvard University is working closely with the student's family and US authorities to resolve the issue before the start of the school year on September 3," said spokesman Jason Newton.

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American universities are crowded with hundreds of thousands of students from around the world, but the Trump administration's policies toward regular and irregular immigrants threaten this leadership by restricting access to US territory for students, academics and researchers.

Harvard President Baku Lawrence called for a speech (Al Jazeera obtained a copy) more than a month ago to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McLean to complain about the delays in the arrival of students and researchers from around the world due to the Trump administration's tough policies. Towards migration.

In his speech, Lawrence expressed concern over Washington's policies of restricting foreign students and scientific research experts, pointing out that the leadership of American universities, especially those based on research, depends on providing avenues that encourage freedom, communication and skills development among students and academics from around the world.

"Like other US universities, Harvard attracts students, researchers and academics from around the world. They are not only involved in our research and scientific activities, they are an integral part of these institutions and contribute significantly to their progress," he said.

In his speech, President Harvard pointed to the delay in broadcasting decisions to grant students and academics visas to the United States, as well as the delay in renewing the issuance of visas and work permits, and said that all of the above negatively affects the reputation of the leadership of American universities around the world.

The Trump administration is tough on granting visas, and began a few months ago to apply for visa applicants to the United States information about social media accounts, which they have used in the past five years.

Trump's tough immigration policies have also focused on travelers from several Muslim countries, in the form of executive decisions issued by the president in the first week at the White House to ban citizens of these countries.

Although many US courts defied the president's decision and lifted the ban, the final decision went to the Supreme Constitutional Court, which recognized the president's right to impose a ban on the necessities of protecting national security. These decisions have affected the numbers of Muslims coming to the United States, whether for immigration, visitation or education.

When American high school students choose between 4,140 universities to complete their studies, Harvard is the first choice. Not only America, many students around the world prefer to apply for Harvard, and are often disappointed when they get a response, as it only accepted 5.4% of applicants last year.

Among the most important alumni of the university are former presidents such as Barack Obama, George Bush and Franklin Roosevelt in the lead, as well as graduated by Henry Kissinger, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and founder of Microsoft Bill Gates, and a number of the most important leaders and rulers of the world, in addition to dozens of scientists who received Nobel Prizes in various Fields.