Indian students in the US are dropping out of part-time jobs even in the face of economic hardship, because of increased apprehension of deportation. Markets tightening as a result of the second-term immigration policies of President Donald Trump are keeping many students from reaching needed income. The concern has grown since Trump signed multiple executive orders aimed at deporting undocumented immigrants and enforcing stricter immigration regulations.
Indian students risk their part-time jobs in US as Trump announces biggest deportation in history
The anxiety is most acute for F-1 visa students, who have on-campus work rights up to 20 hrs/week but are barred from creating unreported off-campus work. Nevertheless, a lot of the students have been financially dependent on off-campus positions in restaurants, gas stations, and retail shops, just to survive. And they are now tentatively relinquishing these duties in order to preserve student visas.
One such student Arjun, a postgraduate resident in Illinois, narrated his experience to The Times of India. “I used to work at a café after college to manage my monthly expenses. It was a fair deal at $7 per hour, but I left last week following news of heightened immigration enforcement. I cannot take the risk of losing my visa, especially after having taken a $50,000 loan to come study,” he explains.
Neha, another master’s student in New York further voiced similar issues. She and her friends have stopped working off-campus out of fear of workplace immigration raids. “It’s hard, but we cannot take the chance of being deported or losing our visa. Our families have made a lot of sacrifices just to get us here,” she said.
With many students abandoning part-time employment, some of them are now relying increasingly on family financial support, which increases their emotional and financial burdens, all around the same time. The situation has also increased students’ stress levels, with consequences at the mental level.
Meanwhile, India’s external affairs minister, S. Jaishankar, has announced plans to repatriate undocumented Indian nationals if their origins are verified. Still, there is no precise idea of how many people could be affected.
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