An international student researcher who requested to remain anonymous faces uncertainty about opportunities to further research at UTSA and how much longer they can stay in the country. 

“I don’t want to be in the U.S. any longer than I have to,” the student said. “I am constantly under the danger of just getting deported out of nowhere.”

The student is part of the Maximizing Access to Research Careers Program but has not been informed if the program will continue to be funded past this spring. The program directors should have been notified in February. 

“We’re basically walking around blind hoping that we do, in fact, have the resources to continue doing research, and it feels like that for everything related to research right now, especially for the MARC programs.

“This is my last year here at UTSA, [and] it is not looking good.”

The researcher provided further details on difficulties in finding research experiences for undergraduates. 

“Every single summer REU that was involved partially or fully by the NIH got canceled or has been indefinitely stalled, and we’re talking dozens of programs all across the nation,” the student said. “So, we are kind of at an impasse where we don’t have the political capital to incite a change that would be beneficial to the greater populace of researchers.”

However, the student’s troubles continued in finding PhD opportunities, as well, due to holding an international status. 

“There were places that I applied to for graduate school that straight up told me that they don’t even have availability for international students anymore because international students are slightly more expensive to maintain than your average PhD student, [and] you have to sponsor their work visa. So, I’ve been rejected from every single grad school that I applied to.”

Upon arriving in the U.S., the researcher intended to stay to complete an education and continue a career. However, their plans have since changed. 

“I thought I would stay in the U.S. I thought I would graduate here as an undergrad, go to grad school, do my PhD, do my post-doc and potentially become a faculty member, again, somewhere in the United States,” the researcher shared. “There [weren’t] hard plans of what university I wanted to go to, but that was planned.

“I’ve started to look elsewhere. I’ve been applying to graduate programs in Europe, namely Spain, Germany, Sweden, Norway [and] Switzerland.

“If worse comes to worst, I just go back home to my country of origin, and honestly, this is kind of what hurts the most for me. I have made what I consider to be lifelong bonds with people that I probably wouldn’t have ever met if it wasn’t for the program,” the student said. 

While the researcher cannot receive any funding from MARC due to an international background, the student acknowledged the necessity of the funding for peers.

 “These people, all my friends, are economically dependent on this research program. The lack of funding would change their lives drastically, reduce their opportunities to be researchers [and] reduce their opportunity to leave an impact in their respective fields,” the student said. 

Additional student researchers have come forward with their concerns and efforts to combat the possible funding cuts to their programs. Their stories will be published in the following weeks at paisano-online.com.