Have there been any successful legal challenges and wins on this front?
I find a lot are surprised by the rules around student visas. These were always “walking on shells” type visas. The port of entry officers can cancel it based on a vague hunch. It can be cancelled from breaking university rules. It may not seem fair but it’s always been like that.
A 1st amendment appeal is worth trying as defense strategy for protesters but the response to it is usually that the students are not sent to prison, they are merely “sent home”.
This is also a golden moment for EU and other countries to say “come here instead” and make that process as smooth as possible.
It's walking on egg shells in other countries as well - either requiring upfront cash in the $30-50k range as proof of funds, or limited ability to convert into residency or a work visa.
More fundamentally, at least in STEM the cream of the crop of a lot of countries doesn't really immigrate to settle anymore because domestic options can pay comparable or higher than those in the EU or the Commonwealth. At best they will study abroad for grad school at a top program, work for a couple years, and then return to the old country because of family commitments and upward growth potential.
This trend already began among Koreans in the 2000s, Chinese in the 2010s, and now among Indians as well.
The EU might have had a chance attracting top talent from MENA, but xenophobia and low salaries+high taxes made UAE and KSA more enticing (German level salaries for white collar work, no taxes, and easier to blend in).
See, "free speech", right to protest, and all the other rights that democracy entails is all fine and dandy - until you are a foreigner in another country. For all purposes, a foreigner is often a second-class citizen with fewer rights. And no country (democracy or otherwise) I know of tolerates any sort of political activity by foreigners. Indeed, many countries explicitly state so when issuing a visa that any kind of political activity can result in your immediate deportation.
That said, I am somewhat surprised that Donald Trump and the Republicans haven't learnt the political lessons on how Biden's unabashed support, and even defence, of the ongoing genocide in Gaza by the Israeli-right lunatics in power cost Biden (Kamala Harris, and the Democrats) the US Presidency ( https://politics.stackexchange.com/q/89703 ). There was deep resentment against Biden / Kamala Harris due to the harsh crackdown on campus protests ( https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/may/01/college-camp... ). And the fact that political tensions on this issue is still simmering means that even a single political mistake by the Trump administration could be the spark that ignites this issue in a manner that even the media wouldn't be able to cover it up under the guise of "anti-semitism" or "support for terrorism" or "foreign incitement".
That’s a good advice. You’re a good friend. The universities’ international students affairs office should be telling these students the same. Yeah, let citizen students protest. If they break a rule, they’ll get a ticket or a slap on the wrist, international students get sent home and significantly lower their chances of getting another visa.
There was another article that showed up fairly recently here on HN that covers this. When Hitler rose to power in his efforts to clamp down he drove all the brilliant and foreign talent out and the schools never recovered. What took 200 years to build, was completely destroyed in several months.
Yep. And this is what caused the exodus of people like Einstein to the US.
America is straight up on the path followed by Hitler and Nazis.