When the American dream turns into a nightmare

Editor's note: Xin Ping is a commentator on international affairs, writing regularly for Xinhua News Agency, CGTN, Global Times, China Daily, etc. The article reflects the author's views and not necessarily those of CGTN.

Imagine that you are a young student with a dream of studying in the United States. When you took your first step on American soil, what greeted you was not the Statue of Liberty holding a torch and the Declaration of Independence, but the border police armed with intimidating guns and batons. What would it be like if you were grilled for more than ten hours in a small dark room? How would you feel when your valid visa was suddenly canceled for no reason? What would you do if you were denied the right to study in the U.S. simply because of your nationality? Several Chinese students who recently suffered such a nightmarish experience at the U.S. border gave their answer: confusion, anger, fear and despair.

Nightmarish 50 hours

Recent media reports reveal the U.S. deporting dozens of Chinese students arriving at Washington Dulles International Airport for alleged political reasons. With their cellphones and laptops taken away and personal belongings searched, the victims were prohibited from contacting their family or friends for several days. The lengthy grilling was described by some as a "fever dream." The students were repeatedly interrogated and asked questions related to their political background and academic research by the border control officers, who seemed bent on establishing even the flimsiest connections between the students and the Chinese government. After the unwarranted questioning and interrogation, some students had their visas revoked and some were even given a five-year ban from entering the U.S.

How many five years are there in one's life? How many five prime years for students in their 20s or 30s? This could be the most opportune time for these students to further their academic pursuits and achieve excellence in their professions. They could have the chance to benefit from the China-U.S. academic exchange and give back to society. They could have become a bond that connects the two peoples and the two cultures. In fact, this is how the academic and educational exchanges between countries benefit the world.

However, the dreams of all these students were crushed and all their hard work came to naught, simply because of groundless suspicions and the fact that they come from a country the U.S. sees as its "most consequential strategic competitor." Without breaking any U.S. laws or regulations on border control, these students had their legitimate right to education gravely violated or simply robbed away. The nightmarish 50-hour endured by these Chinese students serves as a microcosm of the growing uncertainties faced by foreign students studying in the U.S. due to worsening identity politics in this country.

Exchange or exclusion

What the Chinese students experienced points to America still haunted by the ghost of McCarthyism. During the "Red Scare" instigated by the notorious Joseph R. McCarthy in the 1950s, the U.S. persecuted many prestigious and outstanding academics and to some extent prevented several U.S. administrations since Dwight D. Eisenhower from engaging with China.

The Donald Trump's administration also concocted a similar short-lived program, the China Initiative, which discriminated against scientists of Chinese descent. It never caught any spies, but only produced a chilling effect on the academic community of the country and is now cast into the historical dustbin. Scholars persecuted under the initiative lost their research funding, academic opportunities and even jobs. Even after all charges were dropped, the victims and their families went through a hard time and have yet to recover from the terrible exclusivism and racism against the Chinese.

Now similar experience has befallen the Chinese students, and the recent cases at the Dulles Airport are only a continuation of a long-standing practice. The most ridiculous case happened in 2021 when three Chinese students with valid travel papers were interrogated by U.S. border officers upon arrival at the Houston Airport and then deported. The decision was made on the grounds of alleged links with the Chinese military, simply because photos of military training which is part of China's education program designed to build character and a sense of discipline were found in the students' cellphones. This preposterous incident has been much criticized, revealing how a country that claims to be open, inclusive, and a champion of academic freedom is infringing upon the rights of young individuals, treating them unequally through discriminatory and biased law enforcement practices. It denies these diligent students a fair opportunity to pursue a promising future.

The U.S. is losing Generation Z

When the "American Dream" is shattered and the dim reality sets in, Generation Z and millennials with high hopes for their future would consider carefully whether the U.S. is still the place to go for a better education and a better life. The country is gradually losing its shine as the land of opportunities and scientific progress, with openness gradually replaced by xenophobia, academic research increasingly politicized, and ideological lines deepening in the world of science that is supposed to know no borders. It has now trapped itself in the wrong mindset of out-competing China by blocking the young and rejecting the talented. In the eyes of the young people, there is no more American dream, but an American nightmare instead.

The 21st century needs the young generation to be future "world watchers" who champion diversity and inclusiveness. Only by seeing and experiencing the world themselves and spending time and studying with people of different backgrounds can Generation Z become well-rounded and develop a global vision. By stifling this possibility, the U.S. is losing its appeal to the young as a place of innovation and hope and is turning its back on the future. When the "melting pot" becomes a self-enclosed barbican, it is most likely to head for Sunset Boulevard.

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