Brilliance at the Border
- Zohaib Akhtar MD MPH
- May 27
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 14
More than a million international students studied in the U.S. last year, contributing over $40 billion to the economy. In health sciences, engineering, and computer science, they make up more than half of all graduate students. They are not guests to the American experiment — they are co-authors of it.
Yet increasingly, they live under suspicion. Political rhetoric and global tensions have recast scholars as security risks. Chinese nationals face intense scrutiny; others from South Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa endure visa delays and restricted research access. The message is subtle, but clear: You are welcome, but not fully trusted.
This cycle isn’t new. From Japanese-American students in WWII internment camps, to Cold War blacklists, to post-9/11 surveillance of Muslim students.... history has shown what fear can cost. Today, US halts student visa appointments and plans expanded social media screening.
The cost is real. When researchers choose other countries, American labs fall behind. This isn’t a backup workforce, it’s the intellectual core. And increasingly, other nations aren’t just offering visas.... they’re offering belief.
The stakes go far beyond student lives. When a graduate is forced to leave, they take with them the company they could have started, the medical breakthrough they might have discovered, and the jobs they would have created. That’s not abstract — it’s the story of Boston’s biotech, the Midwest’s medtech, and the industries of tomorrow.
To call these students a national asset is true — but incomplete. They are part of the American story not for what they give, but for who they are: seekers of opportunity, driven by curiosity, building lives in a country long known for possibility.
Yes, national security matters. Cases of espionage exist. But policy shaped by fear alone rarely yields progress.
America was built on the belief that brilliance can come from anywhere. Whether we still believe that...... will define what comes next.
((Z))
May 27, 2025
