Dear Erica,
Immigration and visa policy continues to change quickly in this administration. The latest development is that as of January 21, the Department of State is pausing visa issuance for immigrant visa applicants from 75 countries viewed to be at high risk of utilizing public benefits. Initial media reporting was unclear if this pause would affect nonimmigrant visa applicants (such as F-1 international students and exchange visitors) but the official update from the State Department stated it does not, nor does it impact current valid visas. More information about this latest order is available on NAFSA’s website.
On a related note, NAFSA is aware of an anecdotal report of an international student who was denied re-entry to the United States following the holiday break despite having a valid visa. Please use NAFSA’s IssueNet to report such instances.
The State Department also made waves recently with a social media post announcing it revoked over 100,000 visas, including 8,000 student visas, in 2025. This represents a 150 percent increase in total visa revocations compared to 2024, according to the department.
Recent immigration enforcement actions by ICE and other federal officials in Minnesota, Oregon, and elsewhere understandably have communities and campuses on edge. We’ve compiled some relevant resources from NAFSA, ACLU, and AAC&U to help institutions navigate these uncertain times.
Here in Washington, Congress is scrambling to pass the appropriations bills needed to avoid another government shutdown by the January 30 deadline. Most notably for our field, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that funds the educational and cultural exchange (ECA) programs of the State Department. The Senate will consider it next week. Unfortunately, the bill funds ECA at $667 million, which is $74 million less than the current funding level. Despite the cut, the bill shows that Congress still supports these important programs. If Congress is unable to pass the remaining appropriations bills by the end of this month, it will need to pass a stopgap measure known as a continuing resolution to temporarily fund the government and avoid another shutdown.
In other news, on January 15, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released its Final Fall Enrollment Trends report. It shows that graduate international student enrollment declined 5.9 percent (a drop of 10,000) after years of steady growth. At the undergraduate level, there was an increase in international enrollment (3.2%) but at less than half the rate of last fall’s increase (8.4%).
Speaking of enrollment, NAFSA continues to help media outlets around the country tell the story of international students and their contributions, most recently in Berkeley, California, Arlington, Texas, and across Virginia. These stories provide a snapshot of the varying state of international enrollment across U.S. institutions, with the University of Texas at Arlington seeing a 20 percent decline while University of California-Berkeley enrolled 29 percent more new international students this fall than last year.
Meanwhile, Times Higher Education released its latest world ranking of universities which revealed that U.S. institutions like Harvard University dropped while Chinese universities are rising, as reported by the New York Times.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Register for NAFSA’s (virtual) Advocacy Day and bring a friend! We’re especially keen to welcome folks from typically underrepresented states where we have key Congressional targets. That includes: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming. Help us find willing folks in these states!
Don’t forget to nominate someone for the 2026 NAFSA Advocate of the Year! Our deadline is February 10.
Thank you kindly.
Best,
Erica
Erica Stewart
Senior Director, Advocacy & Strategic Communications
NAFSA: Association of International Educators
