Trump’s travel ban means I’m stuck in China while my school reopens | Opinion

I’m a rising junior in a private school in suburban Philadelphia. A few days ago, my school announced that it would be reopening in the fall. But I won’t be there.

No, I'm not protesting the decision to open, nor am I pursuing a YouTube career by dropping out of high school. Instead, I'm an international student holding an F-1 visa, spending summer break back in China with my family.

Because of this, I’m not allowed back in the country where I’ve been studying for four years.

When the coronavirus pandemic reached America, most of my classmates with an F-1 visa opted to stay in the U.S. with their families or host families, fearing this exact situation. However, I had to come back to China. At the time of the shutdown, my grandparents were visiting me and needed my help to be accompanied back to China. Also, my passport was set to expire in July 2020, and it has to be renewed in China.

» READ MORE: Pa. and N.J. attorneys general join lawsuit to block ICE from barring or deporting international students

When I made the decision to return home, my family and I expected that if schools were to reopen in the fall, international students’ restrictions would loosen. However, as Governor Wolf recently announced, schools in Pennsylvania are allowed to physically reopen in the fall. My school will do so, while implementing safety measures like closing the cafeteria, daily temperature checks, and increased disinfection. Yet according to The Centers for Disease Control, foreign nationals from China, Iran, Europe Schengen, the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and Brazil are still not allowed to enter the U.S., unless they are green card holders, which many students are not.

After spending a blissful summer with my family in China, where COVID-19 cases have dropped, the news that I could not return to school was like a bucket of iced water poured over my head. When we were abruptly pulled out of school in the spring, I couldn’t wait to return so that I could see my friends and return to normalcy after such a tough, trying time. 

School officials have assured me that for the fall semester I will be able to participate in the curriculum digitally from China through a combination of classroom materials, textbooks, and help from my teachers. But being stranded in China, apart from all my classmates who will be together in school, I will miss group projects, and class participation. Additionally, I won’t be able to join my field hockey team for our fall season, and I’ll miss club activities that I love, including mock trial and model UN. 

But even with all I will miss, I know that other Chinese students from American schools are in even tougher situations.

» READ MORE: Local colleges pave the way for international students to start studies in their home countries, given visa restrictions

My friend Grace Luo was set to be a rising senior at Riverstone International School in Idaho, but because she cannot return to the United States, she has to figure out other ways to continue her education. “I’m considering transferring to a school in China since I can’t go back [to the U.S.], but I’ll have to repeat a year,” she told me. The Chinese high school system rarely allows for transfer students. And even if she can get in, her curriculum from her American high school would be utterly different from that of her new school, making catching up impossible. This could lead to academic disruption and lower grades that could impact her college application.

These restrictions against Chinese students are not necessary. To continue banning Chinese travelers is a gross case of xenophobia and racism that pushes the responsibility of COVID-19 on the backs of Chinese international students who are merely trying to go back to school.

China’s current numbers do not warrant a travel ban from the U.S. The CDC should reevaluate infection rates in countries and make adjustments, including allowing certain visa types to enter the U.S., based on the new evaluations. Most other countries on the CDC’s list of banned travelers have tens of thousands of active cases. China reported 43 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the mainland as of Aug. 2, down from 49 a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said on Monday. In comparison, Pennsylvania reported 654 new cases on Aug. 2.

All across America, beaches and public institutions have reopened while hundreds of new coronavirus cases have been reported in many states. Yet international students like me are stuck in limbo, even as cases decline all around us. This is where foreign policy impacts real people. Blocking international students from the opportunity to continue their education isn't the right response to America's rising COVID-19 cases. 

Lavender Huang is a rising junior at the Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr. She currently lives in China with her family.