Sitting at Yale with my Singaporean passport on Nov. 5, 2024, I recognize that my citizenship has ostensibly distanced me from the outcome of this election. 

I have an F-1 Visa from a country with favorable bilateral relations with the United States of America — a favorability that endured under President-elect Donald Trump’s first presidency and is more than likely to persist through his second. I am not Muslim, nor am I from a Muslim country, exempting me from the dread several of my counterparts feel at the potential return of Trump’s vowed travel ban. Likewise, I am not from a country or territory directly affected by conflict at the present; regions that shudder at Trump’s promises of non-interventionism and permitting aggressors to “do whatever the hell they want” as he ventures to reshape American foreign policy.

More so, Trump has even promised international students who graduate from American colleges — specifically those who are “number one in their class” or are from the “best” universities, much like Yale — green cards “as part of their diploma[s]” in an “All-In Podcast” interview in June.

This is all to say that from a practical standpoint, my passport seems to exempt me from the immediate consequences and immigration concerns of this election. 

Yet, it does not exempt me from the understanding that this election itself is consequential. 

It will bear an indubitable impact on several classes of individuals and transform our global arena in a way that will eventually affect us too. It is not a trivial, humorous event — a case of Americans voting in a reality TV star, as many internationals purport — but rather, it is an election in a deeply-polarized sociopolitical landscape and history-in-the-making.

I should elaborate. There are two classes of international students I have interacted with in the past few days. The first comprises those who are cognizant of this reality. Those who understand the impact Trump’s policies will have on Americans and non-Americans alike and are either to be directly affected or are empathetic to those who will be. This piece is not about them.

The second, by contrast, consists of those who — and I feel the need to issue a disclaimer to this statement, that this is an observed generalization, rather than an absolute rule — typically enjoy citizenship privilege as I do, hailing from a nation they may prosperously return to if needed. They have treated this election as nothing more than a frivolous occurrence rather than a cornerstone in the annals of history.

“Trump will give us green cards,” I have heard them laud, ignorant of Trump’s restrictions to H1-B visas, Optional Practical Training (OPT) and green card processes during his first presidency that directly contradict this loosely-delineated campaign promise. These policies will likely re-emerge in his second term and implicate internationals in our very cohort. 

“America is so deeply unserious,” they’ve laughed, disregarding the fractured political climate of this country that has underpinned this election, and the very real grievances on both sides of the political spectrum that have yielded this outcome.

“I mean, I get that it’s deep, but it’s not that deep,” they’ve expressed, buoyed by their privilege of often existing within a certain socioeconomic stratum and possessing a passport that excuses them from the direct impact of domestic policies to come. They need not experience trepidation at the prospect of losing access to reproductive healthcare, being deported or losing FAFSA. They need not worry at all.

This election is monumental. It is not about us, but it is about the fate of a democracy, a populace and our planet.

The election is that deep. Start acting with the tact that reflects that.

REETI MALHOTRA is a first year in Silliman College. She can be reached at reeti.malhotra@yale.edu.