After practically ending the asylum/refugee system, the Trump administration is now pushing regulations that will severely restrict future legal immigration, starting with international students. 1/

It is also one of the major pathways for skilled immigration to the United States, as described by @Sadikshya_Nepal in this excellent explainer: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/the-challenging-transition-from-an-international-student-visa-to-an-h-1b-a-primer/ /2

And restricting international students has other effects as well, as discussed by @KennymDC and me in this episode of BPC Action's "Under the Dome" podcast: http://bipartisanpolicy.libsyn.com/episode-8-bpc-actions-under-the-dome-on-the-higher-education-crisis-featuring-reps-ann-kuster-d-nh-and-elise-stefanik-r-ny /3

If the reversal of the administration's restrictions on on-line courses earlier this summer is any indication, the pushback to this rule will come from many sectors, especially higher-education. But it also exhibits very short-term thinking by the administration. /4

Other countries are actively courting foreign students we are rejecting, as @CramonBPC states here: https://twitter.com/CramonBPC/status/1309153250084614146

Europe is actively finding ways to encourage and streamline the ways that skilled workers can enter and stay as we showed in this report: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/report/works-in-progress/ /6

We do need to rethink our legal immigration system and how it can support a growing United States now and in the future, a job that should be undertaken by Congress. But these kinds of actions can have much longer term implications that we should be cautious of. /Fin