Student visas have become ‘increasingly uncertain’

Immigration attorneys and higher education leaders say an incoming Harvard freshman's recent experience of being turned away at the United States border is not an isolated incident. Ismail Ajjawi, a Palestinian resident of Lebanon, was denied entry into the US on Friday 23 August shortly after arriving at Boston Logan International Airport, writes Carrie Jung for WBUR.

Susan Church, a Cambridge-based immigration attorney, added that advocates and sources she’s spoken with this week have reported additional cases like Ajjawi’s over the last several days. Officials with the US Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment or confirmation of these reports. Church said cases like this are concerning because international students have already undergone extensive background checks prior to arriving in the United States.

Some university leaders said even the process of applying and getting approved for a student visa has become increasingly uncertain in the last few years. Harvard University President Lawrence Bacow acknowledged the issue in a July 2019 letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan. He called the uncertainty around the application process fear-inducing.
Full report on the WBUR site