For international students in America, these are disconcerting times. The ripple effects of President Trump's attempt to end Harvard University's right to enroll foreign students are being felt across the region and the country — and could threaten research, science and innovation for years to come.

Alison Frank Johnson is a professor of history at Harvard, currently on a fellowship in Germany, working on a book about antisemitic myths. She's concerned that other countries are already poised to scoop up foreign students who might feel unwelcome in the U.S.

For example, government officials in Hong Kong have called on the city's universities to open their doors to those affected by Trump's attempted ban on foreign students. Ireland wants to become a “first choice” destination for international students; and Germany's minister of culture has talked about establishing a research university for "scholars in exile from the United States."

"Other countries are ready to poach researchers doing the kind of work that they understand is valuable, even if the Trump administration doesn't," Frank Johnson said.

"Losing our international students — there is no way to exaggerate how devastating that would be," she added.

Just the threat of expelling foreign students could cause irreparable damage to research projects decades in the making, according to Frank Johnson.

Harvard has pushed back against the Trump administration, which accuses the university of antisemitism and of promoting “leftist” points of view. The government has frozen more than $3 billion in research grants and contracts.

But stripping Harvard of its ability to enroll foreign students could be the biggest blow of all. They comprise more than a quarter (27%) of the entire university's student population, numbering close to 7,000.

The administration has demanded the university turn over information about these students. Last week, Trump went so far as to say Harvard should cap their numbers at 15%.

Photo by Jesse Costa / WBUR