International Students’ Crimmigration: How the Federal Government uses Anti-American Ideology to Scrutinizes and Criminalize Students

• In Event: Political Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Authoritarianism (Table 7)

Abstract

The implementation of crimmigration is ubiquitous and extends to documented immigrants. In this paper, I examine how the federal agencies scrutinize international students beyond visa compliance and criminal activities. Not only must these students comply with visa regulations and laws, but they must not pose national security risks through dangerous ideology expression. Despite being highly vetted, I argue that the recent surveillance practices of the social media vetting, in which the federal government searches for anti-Americanism posts, of activism on campus, and of students’ academic advisors' publications, are examples of crimmigration on these documented, temporary students. In other words, the federal government expects bona fide students, who do not pose national security threats, including making negative comments toward the country and the American people and studying in critical fields. Moreover, recent incidents regarding pro-Palestinian and anti-Semitic activities on campuses raise heated debates about the First Amendment rights of documented noncitizens as well as a broader discussion on academic freedom in higher education. Through an examination of empirical data regarding students’ actions (i.e., social media posts, protests, and CVs/publications) and their results (i.e., visa termination and deportation), I analyze how the federal government uses the national security agenda to amplify the crimmigration practice and weaponize it to refuse student visa issuance as well as terminate statuses while they are in the country. For instance, on May 28, 2025, in a brief press statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the "U.S. State Department will work with the DHS to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.” This statement frames Chinese students’ intersecting identities—country of origin and political ideology—as dangerous. This example shows that students’ identities are also the issues of racialization, geopolitics, and national conflicts. To conclude, this paper reveals how the federal government systematically criminalizes students beyond criminal laws and visa regulations. Its attempt to reduce the number of documented students is a part of larger goals within anti-immigration and mass deportation regimes.

Author

• Phattra Marbang, University of Georgia