- Pooja Asuri is a recent graduate and OPT visa holder in USA.
- The uncertainty of being on a visa under the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump has affected her attitude at work and at home.
- Asuri said she is beginning to question her decision to move to the US.
This spoken essay is based on a conversation with Pooja Asuri, a recent college graduate and an Optional Practical Training visa holder who works in a research lab in Maine. It has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified her visa and employment history.
I graduated from San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Science in December 2023. I was born and raised in Singapore, but I have Indian citizenship and moved to the US for college in 2019.
After graduation, I got a job as a lab technologist at the Jackson Laboratory, a non-profit research organization. As an international student who only had 90 days to find a job, I applied to hundreds of jobs and felt incredibly lucky to land this role.
It meant moving from California to a remote town in Maine where I knew no one, but I was grateful. My parents had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars so that I could study in the US, and part of me felt embarrassed if I didn’t get a job here after graduation. It would also make me question whether my degree was worth it.
The family is missing
Last year, I started planning a trip to India in January to meet my parents, who had recently moved there from Singapore, and my extended family.
As a Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics major, I am allowed a two-year extension on my Optional Practical Training visa, which is seen as a pathway to securing an H-1B – a visa for highly skilled foreign workers.
The recent debates in the US about stricter immigration rules scared me and the company’s legal team. At the end of last year, I was advised to apply for my two-year extension as soon as possible. My legal counsel was concerned that President-elect Donald Trump’s administration might suspend the OPT pathway, as they threatened to do in 2020.
I was stressed and earlier this month, I paid almost $1700 for a fast version of the app. My application was approved last week, days before Trump’s inauguration.
I also canceled all my international travel plans until the summer.
It was heartbreaking – I have been desperate to visit India because I have family members there, including my elderly grandparents, who I haven’t seen in six years.
Constant uncertainty
I’ve spent every Thursday for the past five to six weeks meeting with the legal team at my company.
The uncertainty of being on a visa has also affected my tenure at work, especially with the constant threat of layoffs. I don’t speak loudly even when we are asked for our opinion, because I don’t want to upset anyone. I have become calmer and more obedient.
Outside of work, I worry about the smallest mistakes, like getting a parking ticket. I’m worried it will go on my permanent record and keep me back in line.
I never imagined I would face any of these challenges when I first applied to US universities. Before university, I had only been exposed to Asia and was excited to live in a Western country and see the American dream for myself.
Looking back, I’m not sure if it was worth the move here. Every week, I question whether I should be here, whether I should change my job, and whether I even want to apply for an H-1B and eventually pursue citizenship.
My father has spent his growing up life in Singapore, one of the most developed countries in the world. He still talks to me like I’m in the best place on the planet. I think there has been a big change in sentiment towards migration since his generation, which left India in the early 2000s for better career opportunities.
I realized that more than anything I want stability and family. If I can get a job in India, where I am a citizen, I would have no problem relocating even though I have never lived there. I would be relieved to know that no one can evict me, I can move jobs and be near my family.
Editors note: Trump’s transition team did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider for this story.
