International students contributed an estimated $3.9 billion to Massachusetts' economy during the 2023-24 school year.

Why it matters: Those students' futures — and that money — has come into question as the Trump administration restricts international student enrollment.

The latest: The State Department is halting student visa interviews and revoking visas for Chinese students as part of its broader immigration overhaul.

• A senior Trump administration official told Axios the latter applies to all Chinese nationals studying in the U.S. and noted the move coincides with trade negotiations between the two countries.

Context: This comes after the Trump administration abruptly revoked student visas nationwide and as it tries to bar Harvard from accepting international students.

• A judge halted President Trump's efforts to stop international student enrollment at Harvard — part of a broader fight between President Trump and the Ivy League school — while Harvard's lawsuit against the feds proceeds.
• But that reportedly hasn't stopped the Trump administration from instructing officials to increase scrutiny of international students seeking to go to Harvard.

By the numbers: Massachusetts hosted 82,000 international students during the 2023-24 school year, just over 7.3% of international students nationwide, per a report by NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

• The NAFSA report estimates their enrollment helped create nearly 36,000 jobs.

Zoom in: The latest move doesn't just take aim at Harvard, but all Massachusetts schools that have international students from China.

• Another report estimates 27% of those students are Chinese.

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On this day 171 years ago, federal officials escorted a man in chains downtown to remove him from Massachusetts.

• Anthony Burns, then age 20, had escaped bondage in Virginia only to be forcefully returned.

Why it matters: Burns' arrest became a flashpoint for Boston at a time when the nation was starkly divided, and historical reenactments and discussions are keeping his legacy alive nearly two centuries later.

Between the lines: The nation was starkly divided over slavery.

• Depending on whom you asked, Burns was either kidnapped by a Virginia slave owner with the help of federal officials or returned to his rightful owner, per National Park Service archives.
• Anti-slavery activists debated whether the Fugitive Slave Act or a "higher law" should take precedence in a state that had abolished slavery decades earlier, says Shawn Quigley, lead ranger for the National Parks of Boston.

State of play: National Park Service rangers in Boston revive that debate in their town meeting programming, including a recent reenactment of a May 26, 1854, meeting anti-slavery activists held in Faneuil Hall.

• Rangers pass out cards and ask the audience to deliver various arguments, Quigley says.
• The latest event was at the Old South Meeting House, with support from Revolutionary Space, but the Burns events will resume weekly once a restoration project at Faneuil Hall wraps up later this month.

What they're saying: "The history of Faneuil Hall in Boston is not just the American Revolution, and it's a continuation of the American Revolution," Quigley tells Axios.

Flashback: While activists debated in Faneuil Hall, they got word that a group of radical abolitionists tried to break down the courthouse entrance to rescue Burns.

• The abolitionists failed, and a federal marshal was fatally shot.
• Burns lost his case in court, but the day he was removed from Boston surrounded by federal troops, more than 50,000 people in Boston protested — equivalent to nearly half of the city's population at the time, Quigley says.

Keep reading: Historical parallels

🌃 Boston will select food vendors this week to run late-night food trucks at seven sites around the city, Mayor Michelle Wu announced this weekend.

Immigration agents detained an 18-year-old Milford High School student while he was heading to tennis practice on Saturday. (NBC Boston)

• Gov. Maura Healey blasted the feds for not communicating with local officials or answering questions about the boy's arrest.

🦆 The Brookline Town Meeting banned the sale of foie gras at restaurants. (Brookline.News)

Monday, 6/2

📖 Writer Ron Chernow discusses his new biography, "Mark Twain," at First Parish Church in Cambridge, 7pm.

• Price: $15; $50 for admission and the book.

🌑 If you love burlesque and classic rock, catch "Dark Side of the Boob," a burlesque tribute to Pink Floyd at the Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain, 8:30-10pm

Tuesday, 6/3

🎤 Halsey brings her "For My Last Trick" tour to the XFinity Center in Mansfield.

Wednesday, 6/4

💗 Bow Market in Somerville hosts its Big Singles Bash, 7-9pm.

• Price: $30

Thursday, 6/5

📖 Author Patricia Falvey discusses her historical fiction novel, "The Famine Orphans," at East End Books in the Seaport, 6pm.

• Price: $6.24 in person and virtual; $27.24 for a ticket with a copy of the book.

Friday, 6/6

🎤 Time Out Market hosts its "Drag Star Showdown," hosted by Big Atlas, 8-10pm.

• Want to compete? Apply here.
• Free admission, but RSVP encouraged.

Saturday and Sunday, 6/7 and 6/8

🖼️ Stop by Dorchester Open Studios this weekend at Humphreys Street Studios in Upham's Corner, 12-5pm.

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