There is a real fine line here though. This can easily be turned by many people into a race issue, like we see south of the border. Bringing too much light to this topic can burn everyone.
Sure, but in the most diverse major country in the world; where most of the people affected by low wages and high housing costs are visible minorities, I think there's reasonable space to make the argument, providing its expressed appropriately and with requisite nuance.
1) Its never about where the foreign students come from; its about the sheer volume of foreign students all at once, and the circumstances under which they are coming, which often don't work for them either.
2) Its never about rescinding an offer already made; if a foreign student is here, and wishes to continue their studies here, we made a deal and should abide by it; its about how many permits we issue next year, to people who are not yet here.
3) Its about being honest about the conditions people face when they come here, to them, before they come here (cost of tuition, cost of living, low wages etc.) and letting them make an informed choice about whether to apply. I expect more transparency would cut application numbers significantly.
4) Its about properly funding our colleges and universities and not making them seek out foreigners (actively recruit) solely in order to subsidize their budgets.
5) Its about saying to those same colleges and universities you cannot invite any student onto campus without the reasonable prospect of being able to offer them student housing on/adjacent to campus, should they wish it.
6) Its about disallowing any profit on student housing or meal plans, or education; its one thing to ask foreign students to pay the full cost of their education, its another to ask them to subsidize someone else's.
7) Its about disallowing full-time work by students, while in full-time studies. Its absurd, as it means under-performance and high absence rates from school for which one is paying a proverbial arm and a leg.
8) Finally we need to differentiate student types, broadly, I would put no limit on advanced graduate students coming here. That's a situation that is generally win-win for student and country. I'm less enthused with high levels of under-grads; though I certainly don't wish to unduly cap worthwhile student exchange. But I'm deeply concerned by the issue at Community Colleges which often lack any or any significant student housing, and which frankly don't provide the education quality to justify the sums extracted from foreign students.
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