Consent: A growing number of US colleges and universities are advising international students to return to campus ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, out of concern that he may impose travel restrictions similar to those during his first administration.
More than a dozen schools have issued advisories, though Trump’s plans remain uncertain. At some schools, the spring semester begins before Trump takes office, so students may have to return to class anyway. But for anyone whose ability to stay in the United States depends on an academic visa, they say it’s best to minimize their risk and return to campus before Jan. 20.
Here’s a look at what Trump has said and done, and how schools and students are preparing for his second term:
What did Trump do in the past?
Trump issued an executive order in January 2017 banning travel to the US from citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries – Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.
Passengers from those nations were either barred from boarding their flights or detained at US airports after they landed. They included students and faculty as well as business people, tourists, and visitors from friends and family.
Trump later removed some countries and added others to the list — 15 of which were affected at some point during his presidency. More than 40,000 people were ultimately denied visas because of the ban, according to the US State Department. President Joe Biden rescinded the orders when he takes office in 2021.
How are students affected?
More than 1.1 million international students were enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities in the 2023-24 school year, according to Open Doors, a data project funded in part by the U.S. State Department.
Students from India and China make up more than half of all international students in the U.S., and about 43,800 come from the 15 countries affected by Trump’s travel ban.
Jackie Lee, a third-year environmental studies major at the University of California, Berkeley, will visit China on December 21 and return on January 16. Although he made his plans months before Berkeley officials sent a consultant, he expressed concern. is growing among international students.
“Given the geopolitical tensions around the world, there’s certainly a fear that this kind of ban will spread to the wider community,” said Lee, who urged Trump to support rather than thwart important academic research.
“If America is really the champion of academic freedom, what you should do is not ban this kind of communication between different countries of the world,” he said.
What can Trump do now?
Trump’s transition team did not respond to questions on the matter this week, but in the past he has said he would revive the travel ban and expand it, promising new “ideological screening” for non-US citizens to ban “dangerous lunatics, haters”. , bigoted and crazy.”
“We are not bringing in Gaza, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, or Libya or anywhere else that threatens our security,” Trump said at an October 2023 campaign event in Iowa.
Trump also vowed to “revoke the student visas of bigoted anti-American and anti-Semitic foreigners at our colleges and universities” in response to campus protests.
What does the school say to students?
School officials have advised international students heading home for winter break to return before opening day and prepare for possible delays at immigration.
The list includes Ivy League universities like Harvard and Brown, Boston schools like Northeastern University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and other schools across the country from Johns Hopkins University to the University of Southern California. Some offer classes that begin the day after opening day.
Cornell University told its students that the travel ban, which includes 13 countries previously targeted by Trump, “is likely to go into effect soon after the inauguration,” and that new countries, particularly China and India, could be added to the list. It advised students, faculty and staff from those countries to return to campus before the start of the semester on January 21.
Other schools did not say a ban was likely but instead advised students to plan ahead and prepare for delays.