On an election day that saw one of the most divisive and high-stakes contests for the presidency, an electric mood of political excitement suffused campus. Student groups such as Yale Votes led hundreds of students to City Hall to vote, where they were met with wait times up to four hours long. In Pierson’s Fellows Lounge, members of Yalies4Harris phonebanked voters in battleground states, rallying undecided voters in between bites of Sally’s Pizza.
However, election day held a different significance for international students, who make up nearly 22% of Yale’s undergraduate population. Nearly every day this semester, they have walked by YaleVotes members helping students request absentee ballots. They’ve been invited to election watch parties. They’ve participated in seminar discussions on immigration control and the economy.
But, unlike most Yale students, they can’t vote.
“I have no say,” said Anh Minh Tran ’28, an international student from Vietnam. Tran watched election day coverage with his friends on Tuesday evening in his common room. He described the atmosphere as “energetic” and “full of anticipation,” as conversations buzzed with predictions and reactions to early results. As the night wore on, the “red mirage” became an unsettling reality for his friends, who had hoped to see the first female and Black president elected to the White House.
“I needed to comfort them. I needed to give them hope,” Tran explained, “And then when there’s no hope, I tell them to go to sleep.”
Tran identifies as politically Right-leaning, attributing much of his ideology to the influence of Vietnamese politics. He explained that many members of the Vietnamese diaspora oppose the country’s one-party communist system, which has shaped their political outlook. “We kind of value our people and our nation first,” Tran said, “so I think it’s not my job to advocate for any candidate.”
However, despite his ideological differences with his friends, Tran acknowledged the uncertainties a second Trump presidency presents for many Americans.
“I don’t celebrate my victories in front of my friends because, firstly, I have no say,” he said, “I know when your candidate loses, it’s not a good thing. You need time to, like, ease that in, because it’s for four years.”
For other international students, such as Amin Abdellatif ’28, the 2024 election cycle brought a newfound opportunity to witness American democracy in action.
“It’s interesting for me to even witness an election. Politics was never a part of my life growing up, at least not in the traditional sense,” he said. Abdellatif was born and raised in Sudan. His home country has not witnessed a multi-party election since 1986, before current president Omar al-Bashir took power in a 1989 coup. Witnessing a democratic election up close is fascinating for students like Abdellatif, who have little to no say in their governments’ actions back home.
“I don’t think I witnessed many political conversations regarding this election from international students, maybe because they didn’t feel like they had as much of a stake in it,” Abdellatif explained. However, in the wake of the election results, he described a crude shift in Yale’s political climate.
“People all around me were very upset and literally traumatized,” he said, “I think it’s because we are at Yale, in kind of like an echo chamber, and I was so convinced that there was no way Trump would win.”
Despite their inability to vote, international students will also face the impacts of the forthcoming Trump presidency, which aims to tighten student visa regulations, including limitations on the duration of stay and visa renewals.
“I felt shocked,” Beth Kebede ’28, an international student from Ethiopia, said, “I also felt kind of sad and a bit worried, because Trump’s policies for international students, like his policy on immigration, are very worrying.”
A second Trump term is expected to bring stricter H-1B work visas, which enable many international students to stay and work in the United States following graduation. Such policies may lead to higher visa denial rates, which could cause international students to seek employment options outside of the U.S.
Still, visa struggles aren’t the only cause of concern for international students. In a poll released by the Institute of Politics (IOP) at Harvard Kennedy School, reproductive rights, the Israel-Hamas war, and the economy are just some of the many issues that college students care about. However, for some international students, engaging in conversations about these topics can feel alienating.
“My mom taught me to not talk about politics or religion with anyone because it’s the two topics that can cause the most conflict,” Tran said, “Living in the ‘blue bubble,’ sometimes it’s scary to raise opinions, but I do. I try to be brave and raise my opinions. I’ve met opposition, to say the least, but I can calm the discussion down by saying I have no vote.”
On the other hand, students like Wangeci Gitonga ’28 have opted to stay out of political discussion during the election cycle.
“I didn’t really find myself talking about the election much,” she said, “And if I did, it was with another international student who also wasn’t quite well versed in the U.S. election, so there was no pressure for me to have an opinion on a certain candidate.”
Gitonga is a Kenyan international student, and despite her lack of knowledge regarding U.S. politics, the outcome of the election left her with a complex mix of emotions.
“I had this anxiety over who’s gonna win, and I was trying to unpack it, because I was like, ‘wait, I’m not even an American citizen.’ The most I have heard about Trump is based on what he’s done to the American system, not as someone who has actually, like, tangibly lived throughout the stuff he did,” she said.
As international students continue to watch, listen, and learn in the aftermath of the election, the gap between civic engagement and mere observation remains clear. This disparity lingers in the minds of many as they approach political discussions.
“I don’t feel comfortable [being an international student in the US] in relation to the policies that allow me to stay in this country and further my education,” Kebede said, “I can have my own opinions, but I don’t have a stake in what goes on in for future of this country.”
Regardless of their ability to vote, international students must navigate the intricacies of U.S. elections. Their perspectives and beliefs provide a crucial lens on the global ramifications of American politics.