Students hit out at US visa refusals

Kerry said he now has two options. He can attend online classes for the fall semester while waiting out the proclamation, or pursue philosophy doctorate studies in other countries. He is unlikely to go with the first option, as he will not get the scholarship if he cannot be in the US, and without the scholarship he cannot afford tuition and living expenses of about $55,000 a year.

"I feel so helpless as a foreign student. We have become an easy target for the US government to score political points," he said.

Other students are taking legal action against Proclamation 10043. They have set up a website to promote awareness of the proclamation and are seeking support. In recent days, a GoFundMe campaign has raised nearly $70,000.

A member of the campaign's core volunteer team, using the pseudonym Xiao Liu, said, "After consulting several lawyers, we were told we would need $1 million for the lawsuit."

He enrolled in the computer science postgraduate program at New York University last year, but due to the pandemic, he has been attending online classes and has yet to apply for a visa.

Xiao Lu is a graduate of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, which is also on the entity list. He said he knew of no student from his university being granted a visa for postgraduate study in the US, including non-STEM majors.

"The whole Chinese student community faces rising racism. We need to make our voices heard through this lawsuit," he said. "We know it will be a long process, and we are prepared for this fight."