In mid-April, as he hit his stride in his first year at Harvard, Alfred Williamson felt a stirring of unease.
The Trump administration’s latest threats against his university were now focused on blocking international students from attending it.
“They said, ‘There’s no way he would do that,’” Mr. Williamson, 20, recalled in an interview.
A judge has issued temporary restraining orders pausing the Trump administration’s efforts.
But Mr. Williamson and thousands of other international students are still dogged by uncertainty, wondering what will come next.
Midway through his first year at Harvard, Alfred Williamson was feeling a little uneasy. Now, the Trump administration’s most recent threats against his university were aimed at preventing foreign students from enrolling.
Dear Mr. Williamson, a Welshman, asked his American friends if he should worry.
“They told me that he wouldn’t do that,” Mr. Dot Williamson, 20, recalled in an interview. According to them, it was merely a scare tactic. They were mistaken, though. “.”.
When Mr. Williamson, who is currently enrolled in a summer abroad program, picked up his phone five weeks later, shortly after the spring semester ended, he discovered a mountain of missed calls and messages. The danger his friends had brushed off had turned into a painful reality: Harvard’s ability to accept international students had been essentially shut down by the federal government, leaving Mr. Williamson and others in a miserable state of uncertainty.
Mr. Dot Williamson’s phone rang with anxious messages, and he read through them from classmates who were unmoored by uncertainty (“What are we going to do?”) and from anxious family members (“I hope you’re OK”). He spoke with a close friend who was distraught over the possible loss of Harvard financial aid, which had made college affordable and had not been matched by British universities.
The Trump administration’s actions have been halted by temporary restraining orders issued by a judge. But uncertainty still plagues Mr. Dot Williamson and thousands of other international students, who are unsure of what lies ahead.
A white British man who came to the United States to study science, like Mr. Dot Williamson, would not typically be the subject of discussion in the nation’s heated immigration debates. He has, however, been drawn into the Trump administration’s battle over higher education, just like a variety of students from around the globe.
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