‘Do we want to study in a campus where we are scared all the time?’
Trump’s America makes students do a rethink. While some look for alternative destinations, those who have got admission are scrubbing social media profiles
Tara had long dreamt of a life in New York. But this year, when she got into graduate school programmes in the US, it was not relief and a sense of achievement she felt, but a pang of anxiety. “When I was applying last year, the US was high in terms of options for me. But I just can’t justify going. I’m not an activist of any sort, but I post political content on social media,” says the 24-year-old Delhi resident.
“But this is enough to get people deported. I don’t want to be scared all the time or spend my time thinking whether I’ll wake up to an email if I like an Instagram post.” Instead, she is choosing between options in the UK and Europe, both of which feel far less precarious to her.
