DIGEST - Volume 10, Issue 3-FULL DIGEST

12 TPC Digest S Anandavalli, John J. S. Harrichand, Stacey Diane Arañez Litam A m idst COVID-19–related fears and challenges, international students in the United States have become targets of community- and national-level anti-immigrant sentiment in the form of hate crimes, racial slurs, and violence. Challenged with confronting the double pandemic of the COVID-19 crisis and deeply embedded xenophobia (fear or hatred of foreigners) and Sinophobia (fear or hatred of China and/or Chinese people), international students’ mental health is gravely threatened. In this context, international students’ pre-existing mental health stressors like isolation and homesickness are further compounded by institutional racism. For instance, xenophobic rhetoric and stereotyping in media have risen since President Trump’s labelling of coronavirus as the “Chinese virus.” Additionally, the travel ban against international workers and threat of deportation of international students by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement amidst the health crisis are possibly reflective of a deeper animus against this highly talented and resourceful community. Thus, there exists a larger, systemic threat to international students’ mental health. Counseling International Students in Times of Uncertainty | A Critical Feminist and Bioecological Approach