India, May 3 -- For more than a century, the US has drawn some of India's brightest minds in pursuit of world-class education. From BR Ambedkar, who went on to draft India's Constitution, to business titans like Mukesh Ambani and Azim Premji, American universities have helped shape generations of Indian thinkers, builders, and changemakers. Today, however, under the Trump administration's increasingly hardline immigration policies, that legacy is being threatened. The consequences of these actions could reverberate for decades to come.

In recent weeks, reports from US campuses have sent a chill through the Indian student community. Thousands of international students on F-1 visas have been detained, deported, or denied re-entry for seemi...