Wadi, a spring 2025 computer information system graduate, was terrified when he first heard the news of the federal changes to the visa system and that 77 visas had already been revoked in North Texas, 19 of which were UTD students. An international student from Saudi Arabia, Wadi feared that his social media presence could get him deported — he purged his social media when The Retrograde first published news regarding revocations — and spoke with us only on the condition he could use a pseudonym instead of his real name.
International student panic reemerged Sept. 19 when the White House issued a new proclamation that would impose a $100,000 fee for individuals on H-1B visas seeking entry into the U.S. UTD said the next day that H-1B visa holders should return and quit traveling immediately.
This fear among international students is not unique to Wadi, nor is it unique to UTD. In August this year, the Stanford Daily sued the Trump administration on the grounds that their restrictions on free speech, exemplified in ICE’s detainment of Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Öztürk for their public statements in support of Palestine, were unconstitutional. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a national free speech watchdog, said this created a shroud of “fear over millions of noncitizens, who worry that voicing the wrong opinion about America or Israel will result in deportation.”
International students now must walk the delicate tightrope between maintaining their legal immigration status and understanding what rights they have to express themselves. The Retrograde spoke to legal experts in immigration law and free speech rights. David Swain is an immigration attorney in Dallas; his firm partners with the UTD Office of Immigrant and Citizenship Services to provide basic support to UTD students. Colin McDonnell is an attorney with FIRE currently fighting for the free speech rights of international students.
Practical advice from an immigration lawyer
Throughout October, the Office of Immigrant and Citizenship Services hosted three attorney information sessions for over 1,000 students. Swain presented Oct. 13 to over 400 students concerned about H-1B visas.
Swain said that while the proclamation from the White House could be intimidating to students and staff on H-1B visas, the effects of the proclamation itself were negligible. Swain said that the most critical piece of information international students need to understand about it was that it only applied to individuals outside of the U.S. seeking to enter on an H-1B visa.
Swain said that the most critical piece of information international students need to understand about the proclamation was that it only applied to individuals outside of the U.S. seeking to enter on an H-1B visa.
“If you’re inside the United States, the employer does not have to pay the $100,000 fee,” Swain said. “If you’re in F-1 OPT, for example, and you get selected in the H-1B lottery, you can change status from F-1 to H-1B without paying the fee because that is not an entry.”
Swain said that he did not believe the rule would or could be enforced. The proclamation is set to expire September 2026 and it would only apply to visas that go into effect October 2026. Swain said that the proclamation was not written properly and was unlikely to have a legal effect on anyone.
“This happens to them all the time, you think they would learn,” Swain said. “They’re just too lazy to issue notice and comment regulations. I don’t think that the $100,000 fee is in any of your futures.”
Regardless of whether the proclamation can be enforced, Swain said that students on visas should not be internationally traveling now. Swain said every time students left the country, they risked their visa or entry being denied because of questions of non-immigrant intent. Swain said traveling needlessly risks the enforcement of legally dubious policies that are currently being enforced.
“Don’t travel if you are on H-1B because we don’t want any needless entry attempts,” Swain said. “And don’t travel while you’re in F-1 status because, if you do run into any trouble outside the U.S., it’s over. And there’s literally nothing we can do about it.”
Don’t travel if you are on H-1B because we don’t want any needless entry attempts. And don’t travel while you’re in F-1 status because, if you do run into any trouble outside the U.S., it’s over. And there’s literally nothing we can do about it.
— David Swain, Dallas immigration attorney
Swain said that while concerns about visas could cause a lot of hysteria, students need to be more selective with their sources of information. Swain said his immigration law firm, Tidwell, Swain and Farquhar, provided free initial consultations to UTD students that need help. OICS partners with various law firms. Students interested in using this resource can contact OICS and fill out its legal referral application online.
“Try not to get your information from the internet if you can or your friends,” Swain said. “They may be very good friends, but they’re not good immigration lawyers.”
Understanding your rights — and challenges to them
International student fears regarding expression have spiked this year. Dominic Coletti, the student press freedom program officer at FIRE, said his organization was getting more calls about how students could respond to Trump’s crackdown on international students, but that the number of calls has calmed as people adapted to the new system. Josh Moore, the assistant director of the Student Press Law Center, said that his organization had seen a similar rise after the arrests of Khalil and Öztürk.
“Our legal hotline saw a flood of anxious questions from student journalists across the country,” Moore said. “The week after we issued our Student Media Alert was our single busiest week in more than two years.”
McDonnell said that the Stanford Daily’s lawsuit had the goal of reaffirming First Amendment protections for non-citizens who currently fear deportation and visa revocations over their protected speech.
“The government’s position is that if two people are expressing the exact same point of view, if one is a citizen, First Amendment rights apply, but if one is not a citizen, then federal agents can snatch that person off the street and start deportation proceedings,” McDonnell said.
The government’s position is that if two people are expressing the exact same point of view, if one is a citizen, First Amendment rights apply, but if one is not a citizen, then federal agents can snatch that person off the street and start deportation proceedings.
— Colin McDonnell, FIRE attorney fighting for the free speech rights of international students
McDonnell said the systematic attack on the speech of international students caused a very understandable fear for thousands of students across the country. He said students would be terrified to speak up in class, to share their opinion on a test or write their opinion in the student newspaper because each of these actions carried a tangible risk if the government continued to egregiously violate the rights of non-citizens.
McDonnell said FIRE is currently seeking an injunction against the federal government to stop the enforcement of what it sees as unconstitutional regulations. He said that for the time being, international students should exercise caution and avoid travel since they have the most constitutional protections when they are on U.S. soil.
McDonnell said that the First Amendment protects international students, and challenges to previous detainments have seen some success already. If successful, the lawsuit would bring U.S. policy toward international students back in line with what the constitution says.
“The First Amendment protects international students,” McDonnell said. “It doesn’t say, ‘Only citizens have an individual right to free speech.’ It speaks more broadly: ‘The government shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech,’ and that applies whether you’re a citizen or non-citizen.”