President Donald Trump ’s second-term immigration policies are reshaping American higher education, and with it, the country’s long-term innovation ecosystem. Stricter visa vetting, suspended embassy interviews, and expanded travel restrictions across 19 countries have made the United States a significantly tougher destination for international students. What began as a border-control initiative is now reverberating through research laboratories, startup incubators, and classrooms nationwide, threatening America’s traditional edge in global innovation. Fall 2025 marks the steepest decline in international student arrivals in modern US history. According to the US Department of Commerce, just over 313,000 student visa holders entered the country in August 2025, a 19% decline from nea

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