Elisha Shahie and Diana Wilson are here from Qatar on student visas. “I really like this country and I really like the people around here and I hope things don't change or my perspective doesn't change,” Shahie said.
Both also hope their home won't be added to the travel ban. “I was planning to book tickets home this summer. But now I'll wait and see what if something more happens,” Wilson said.
Stephen Dunnett is the Vice Provost of International Education at the University at Buffalo. “I never anticipated this day, never,” he said. He said all students are heavily vetted before they're granted a student visa and he questions why they are included in the ban. They require transcripts through kindergarten and proof the applicant has four times the cost of tuition on hand. “If somebody wanted to do damage to us, the last visa they would apply for is a student visa. The process takes more than a year, sometimes a year and a half.”
International student tuition is also 3.3 times more expensive than domestic tuition. “International education is an export for our nation,” Dunnett explained. “But, it's also what has made our universities great and there is no great university in the world that isn't an international university.”
That's why he believes the ban is harmful not only now but long term. ”Already, student who have been accepted for our fall semester have indicated to us that they're not sure that they're coming.”
