Travel Pause

Students from Southeast Asia rethink education plans to US amid immigration crackdowns and policy shifts

Editor's note: In this weekly feature China Daily gives voice to Asia and its people. The stories presented come mainly from the Asia News Network (ANN), of which China Daily is among its 20 leading titles.

For months, 19-year-old Noah (not his real name) from Malaysia had been researching how to study marine biology in the United States: looking into visa rules, work opportunities and internships. But in April, he gave up on his decision.

"I had my heart set on Hawaii — some people call it the Disneyland for marine scientists," he said.

Countries such as Australia, Britain and the US have long been major overseas destinations for Southeast Asians. But there appears to be a growing sense of wariness among potential students and other travelers from the region about heading to the US.

Policy shifts under the Trump administration, including sharper scrutiny of international students and visa cancellations, amid an immigration crackdown have led to reassessments by would-be arrivals from Southeast Asia.

For Noah, the worries have meant pivoting to local options or considering Singapore and Australia. He declined to use his real name as a precaution in the event of future travel to the US.

"I have turned my eyes closer to home. Southeast Asia has incredible marine ecosystems too, and maybe this is a sign to root my work right here, where it matters most," he said.

Others have seen opportunities abruptly paused. A 28-year-old Malaysian participant in the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, who requested anonymity, said his five-week fellowship in the US was postponed without explanation in March.

Since January, more than 4,700 international student records have been removed from the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, a database managed by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, according to Reuters and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

The US Embassy in Jakarta reported 8,348 Indonesian students in the US for 2023-24, the second-highest figure from Southeast Asia, after Vietnam. But cases like that of Aditya Wahyu Harsono — a 33-year-old arrested by ICE agents at his workplace in Minnesota after his student visa was suddenly revoked — have caused ripples of concern.

The Indonesian embassy in Washington on April 12 urged students to closely monitor their visa status and digital footprint, and to stay compliant with all US regulations. Several Indonesian students have been detained or deported recently, including one in San Francisco, and others in Atlanta and New York.

As of April 24, around 20 Indonesian students across the US have been detained by ICE, with five of them deported.

Some Indonesian students in the US say they have stopped traveling outside of the country, even for academic events, to avoid reentry risks.

"During spring break, I noticed that people who returned to the US after internships or other activities were being questioned a lot by immigration officers, mostly friends from Arab or Palestinian backgrounds. They might be the main targets now," Edo (not his real name), a postgraduate student in New York, said. He also declined to be named in case of possible repercussions.

"There's now a lot of guidance circulating. Before going through immigration, students (from overseas) are advised to delete all social media, deactivate accounts and clean up (their) photo gallery," he said, pointing to groups like American Civil Liberties Union that are helping students avoid potential detention by ICE.

These developments come as the current US administration is poised to use the federal purse to force top universities like Columbia and Harvard to make sweeping policy changes, or lose grants and contracts, even as international student exchange programs, including Fulbright, face funding issues.

Trump administration also revoked Harvard University's ability to enroll international students on May 22, and is forcing current foreign students to transfer to other schools or lose their legal status, while also threatening to expand the crackdown to other colleges.

A 21-year-old Malaysian student is still mulling over an offer from a US university.

"As a brown Asian girl, I worry about my general safety and wellbeing if I were to reside in the US," she said, pointing to issues such as racism and the immigration crackdown, not to mention the political leanings of Arkansas in the deep south, where the university is located. Arkansas is a Republican state, whose voters helped Trump win a second term in the 2024 polls.

Looking for alternatives

Sibrandes Poppema, president of Sunway University in Malaysia, has seen concerns raised by his students and their parents about the situation in the US over the last few months. He has advised them about alternative plans, such as the possibility of obtaining a US degree while completing their studies in Malaysia. The local private university offers joint programs with Arizona State University and other universities outside Malaysia.

"Having a backup plan is always good," he said, adding he has received more inquiries of late about higher studies in Australia and New Zealand.

There are about 4,816 Malaysians studying in the US for the 2023-24 academic year, according to the Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, published by the US Department of State.

Government-funded agency Majlis Amanah Rakyat, or Mara, which sends Malaysian students overseas, has reminded them to abide by the local laws. Nearly 300 Mara-sponsored students are currently in the US.

Along with students from the region, other travelers have expressed concerns over visiting the US and being refused entry or, worse, detained by the US immigration authorities for perceived infractions.

A Singaporean woman posted on TikTok on April 24 about being detained and questioned by ICE upon arrival in Los Angeles, despite having visited the US many times with no issues.

"They didn't say anything. They didn't tell me I was going to be put into a room for two hours," she said in her post, recounting how she was not allowed to use her mobile phone or contact anyone. When contacted by the Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times, the woman, who wanted to be known only as Gladys, confirmed the incident but declined to comment further.

Another Singaporean, who wanted to be known only as Matthew, said he often traveled to Philadelphia for work in 2022 and had a pleasant experience then.

But the current situation is worrying, he said. "I feel like the country has seen many changes in the past three years … Looking at the news and seeing how several minority groups or those from Southeast Asia have been specific targets, it is a huge concern."

The Straits Times spoke to seven travel agencies in Singapore, which collectively said they have not seen a difference in the level of air travel to the US, and that upcoming travel plans have not been canceled.

However, Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents president Nigel Wong observed "a number of cancellations and a general slowdown in bookings for travel to the US".

In December, around 2.55 million Malaysians and 1.24 million Indonesians visited the US — compared with 1.86 million and 1.09 million, respectively, in the previous month — according to London-based global data firm CEIC.

While data from the International Air Transport Association for the month of February showed no decrease in Southeast Asian arrivals in the US, this was before the spate of ICE detentions involving Indonesians in recent months.

Just three months into the year, international arrivals in the US are down sharply, driven by US tariff moves.

The US National Travel and Tourism Office's preliminary figures indicated overseas visitor arrivals in the country fell 11.6 percent year-on-year in March; for the first quarter of 2025, the number of visitors entering the US from overseas was 3.3 percent lower than that of the same period a year ago.

According to travel forecasting firm Tourism Economics, the impact of a less favorable view of the US from abroad could be severe enough that international visits would not surpass pre-pandemic levels until 2029.

Put off by reports of bona fide students and tourists being detained or turned away at the border, some are choosing to stay away from the US or travel elsewhere in the meantime.

Jakarta-based business executive Adrian Suharto, 48, who travels frequently for work and holidays, said he will be avoiding the US this year.

"I saw from the news that a lot of student visa holders, permanent visa holders, are being held in US detention centers, and some are deported. It would be a high risk for us regular tourist visa holders," he said.

The Straits Times, Singapore