US universities are urging international students to return to campus ahead of Trump’s inauguration

CNN
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Fear and uncertainty are spreading across many US college campuses ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, with some schools advising international students to return early from winter break amid promises of another travel ban, such as the which stranded its students abroad at the beginning of the month. Trump’s last term.

In a country where over 1.1 million international students Enrolled in US colleges and universities in the 2023-24 academic year, the former president promised tougher immigration policies upon his return to the White House, including an extension of his previous travel ban on people from predominantly Muslim countries and revoking student visas for “radical anti-American and anti-Semitic foreigners”.

International students generally have non-immigrant visas that allow them to study in the US but do not provide a legal way to stay in the country.

“It’s a scary time for international students,” said Pramath Pratap Misra, 23, a student from India who graduated from New York University this year with a bachelor’s degree in political science. NYU had the most international students in the US – over 27,000 – in the last academic year.

On campuses from New York to California, students not only crammed to take finals before winter break, but some also braced for possible disruption to their lives and the possibility of not being able to complete their the studies. Some universities have urged students to postpone or reduce travel plans outside the US before commencement.

Cornell University The Office of Global Learning advised students traveling abroad to return before the start of the spring semester on Jan. 21 or to “communicate with an advisor about your travel plans and be prepared for delays.”

“A travel ban is likely to come into effect shortly after the inauguration,” the university warned students late last month. “The ban will likely include citizens of countries targeted by the first Trump administration: Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Myanmar, Sudan, Tanzania, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen and Somalia. New countries could be added to this list, especially China and India.”

At the University of Southern California, which had more than 17,000 international students last academic year, administrators urged foreign students in an email to return to the U.S. a week before Trump’s return to the White House, saying “one or more executive orders impacting travel … and visa processing” may be issued. USC has the largest number of international students in California.

“While there is no certainty that such orders will be issued, the safest way to avoid any challenges is to be physically present in the US before the start of the spring semester on January 13, 2025,” USC’s Office of International Services said, according to a report. in student-run media site.

In addition, Trump’s promise of “mass deportations” reverberate beyond critical industries such as agriculture, leisure and hospitality, construction and healthcare: It may complicate things for some students, regardless of their winter break travel plans.

The president-elect has at the same time promised to “automatically” issue green cards for foreign nationals who graduate from US colleges, a proposal that — if followed by Trump and approved by Congress — could pave the way for millions of international students to become legal permanent residents.

Shortly after Trump made that pledge in June, however, a campaign spokesman said the pool would be limited for “the brightest graduates” and screened for “exclusion of all communists, radical Islamists, Hamas supporters, America haters and public accusations”. Public duties refer to those who rely on or seek public assistance. Trump has not publicly mentioned the proposal since June, and it is unclear how his new administration will address the issue.

A day after last month’s presidential election, UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy reminded students that the university “will not release immigration status or related information in confidential student files … without a court warrant, subpoena, court order, or as required by law.”

“The university also has a strict policy that generally prevents campus police from engaging in joint efforts with federal immigration authorities or detaining individuals at the request of the federal government,” the center said.

Trump plans a major immigration overhaul after his 2024 victory

In October 2023, after the start of the Israel-Hamas war sparked protests on US college campuses, Trump said at a campaign event that he would revoke student visas and deport. “radical anti-American and anti-Semitic foreigners” enrolled in universities. He criticized the pro-Palestinian protests and said he would send immigration and customs officers to what he called “pro-jihadist demonstrations”.

Trump also promised to reinstate and expand his previous travel ban on people from predominantly Muslim countries — which limited travel from Iran, Libya, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. The administration later expanded the travel ban to include several African countries. chairman Joe Biden revoked the travel ban after taking office in 2021.

Trump promised to implement “strong ideological screening of all immigrants” and said the U.S. would block “dangerous lunatics, haters, bigots and maniacs from obtaining residency in our country.”

He sought to distance himself from Project 2025 – the one controversial plan for a reimagined federal government published by conservatives at the Heritage Foundation in anticipation of a second Trump term — which proposes eliminating “sensitive areas” that limit federal immigration raids in places like schools and college campuses. The plan was formulated by Trump’s allies.

“We are very uncertain about the future,” said Gabrielle Balreira Fontenelle Mota, 21, who is from Brazil and studies journalism and international relations at NYU. “I’m not from a Muslim country or China, which are places that Trump usually criticizes. So I don’t feel as vulnerable as other international students. … What makes me a little more concerned is the ideological projections that (Trump) has said he’s going to implement.”

NYU leaders offered assurances in a post-election email last month, saying that “as a global institution, we believe the cross-border mobility of our students and researchers is critically important.”

“We will monitor any proposals, laws and actions related to immigration that may be of concern to our community,” the email said.

With the specter of restrictive immigration policies, other US universities — including schools in New England — have offered resources and issued guidance.

Office of Global Affairs at University of Massachusetts Amherst a — “out of an abundance of caution” — urged all international students, scholars, faculty and staff to return to campus before the first day of the new administration.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology urged students to avoid “making decisions based on social media and news or rumours”. Northeast University, which enrolls more international students than any US college after NYU, recommended returning to campus by Jan. 6 to “minimize potential disruption to your studies, work or research.”

Harvard University International Office advised students and researchers to “budget time before the semester starts, before the Martin Luther King January break” to avoid disruptions or delays. Wesleyan University, in a letter to students traveling abroad, advised them to return by Jan. 19 amid “uncertainties surrounding President-elect Donald Trump’s immigration policy plans.”

“The best way to anticipate or predict what will happen in the second Trump administration is to look at what happened in the first administration, and what we saw in the first Trump administration was an effort to restrict entry of persons born abroad (students and workers). ) in every category,” said Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Politics, a nonpartisan research organization, during a recent post-election briefing hosted by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.