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There is a bill from South Korea and another from Nepal. They are gifts from his friends, students from other countries who came to the United States to attend college and potentially pursue the American Dream.

In the last few weeks, that dream has been shattered for many students across Missouri, including at Southeast Missouri State University, where my son has made friends with students from Bangladesh, India, and several Asian countries.

In a series of actions disrupting the American immigration system, President Trump has revoked thousands of student visas — — deported students who have committed no crimes, and struck fear in the hearts of young men and women who were recruited to this country by the universities they attend.

Now, many of them are fighting back.

Last week, a federal judge in Missouri blocking the government from suspending the visas of five Missouri students. They include a SEMO student from Nepal; a Nigerian student at the Missouri University of Science and Technology; a student from Bangladesh studying at Virginia Tech University; a student from Spain at Northwest Missouri State University; and a Nigerian student at Truman State University.

Similar lawsuits have been filed across the country as students and universities try to navigate the chaos created by Trump’s executive orders, many of which, the suits allege, violate U.S. immigration law.

The students “face irreparable harm,� U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough found in the case filed in the Western District of Missouri. “Plaintiffs are in the middle of their studies or work programs, into which they have already invested significant time and money. Without an active (student visa) registration, they are at imminent risk of being forced to drop their studies or work programs courses. More broadly, Plaintiffs face the loss of the many years and thousands of dollars they have invested in pursuing their education.�

Trump’s actions have fomented confusion on college campuses, with students hiding out in their dorm rooms and apartments, or skipping classes and job shifts as the spring semester comes to an end. Some have already been deported; others are left in fear.

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ attorney Javad Khazaeli, who represents students in the U.S. on visas, said Trump’s ham-fisted approach was unnecessary and violated established law. Khazaeli is a former immigration prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, so he’s been on both sides of the courtroom and understands the process of revoking a student visa.

“We are a country of laws. There are rules to revoking visas,� Khazaeli says. “The Trump administration violated those rules. It’s why virtually every judge, including Trump appointees, found against them.�

The targeted students aren’t hardened criminals. Most have committed the sorts of minor infractions we expect college-age children to experience as they’re navigating adulthood. What makes the actions against them so confounding is that for years, American colleges — public and private — have been recruiting foreign students, including for the fact that most pay higher tuition.

Many of them stay to pursue their own version of the American dream. Take Vivek Malek. He came to Missouri from India, arriving in 2001 to earn a master’s in business administration from SEMO. He became a U.S. citizen and a lawyer, and he used that law degree to help other students come to SEMO.

“If a person who is not native to this country can come and make this country his own and achieve what he can, then anybody can,� Malek after he became the treasurer of the state of Missouri in 2022.

Now, students following in Malek’s footsteps are being shown the door by the president Malek says he proudly stands with.

But the damage isn’t just to foreign students. It’s also to American students — like my son — who learn and grow because of their international counterparts. And it’s to the institutions trying to make America competitive in the world economy by offering a diverse student body a chance to compete.

Those universities are also under attack by Trump. Like the students, they’re waging a fight against a president who chose it with no clear purpose.

“The price of abridging the defining freedoms of American higher education will be paid by our students and our society,� a group of more than 500 university presidents wrote Trump last week.

was ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ University President Fred Pestello.

“On behalf of our current and future students, and all who work at and benefit from our institutions, we call for constructive engagement that improves our institutions and serves our republic.�

Trump has declared war on American universities and the students they serve.

It’s a fight the next generation won’t let him win.