Fearing a Trump travel ban, top US universities urge int'l students to return before inauguration

Fearing a crackdown on immigration, several US universities have urged international students to return to campus before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20 of next year.

CNN reported that several universities have advised international students to return to campus before the end of winter break to avoid being stranded abroad due to a potential travel ban similar to the one Trump implemented at the start of his first term.

That ban targeted travelers from seven predominately Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. 

Trump has promised harsher immigration policies, including potentially revoking student visas from any "radical anti-American and antisemitic foreigners."

According to the Institute of International Education, the US hosted a record 1.1 million international students during the 2023-2024 school year.

“A travel ban is likely to go into effect soon after inauguration,” Cornell's Office of Global Learning wrote in a statement to students last month. “The ban is likely to include citizens of the countries targeted in 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, particularly China and India.”

Ahead of his second presidential term, Trump has promised to enact harsher immigration laws and is seeking a travel ban on places such as Gaza, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, and Libya out of fear of a massacre similar to that of October 7.

Additionally, while on the campaign trail, Trump also promised to deport those with “jihadist sympathies."  

Trump promises deportations

The president-elect has previously said that he would send immigration officers to pro-Palestinian protests on campuses in order to protect the US, CNN reported. 

“When I am president, we will not allow our colleges to be taken over by violent radicals,” Trump said in May, as reported by NBC. “If you come here from another country and try to bring jihadism or anti-Americanism or antisemitism to our campuses, we will immediately deport you.” 

Trump has also said that he would enforce “strong ideological screening of all immigrants to the United States” and promised that the US would block “dangerous lunatics, haters, bigots, and maniacs" from getting US residency, according to CNN.

“We’re very uncertain about the future,” Gabrielle Balreira Fontenelle Mota, 21, told CNN. Mota, who comes from Brazil, studies at NYU. “I’m not from a Muslim country or from China, which are places that Trump usually criticizes. So I don’t feel as vulnerable as other international students. … What makes me a little bit more concerned is the ideological screenings that (Trump) said he will be implementing.”

At the same time, Trump has proposed to "automatically" give green cards to graduates of US higher education institutions, including junior colleges, according to NBC reports. 

"What I want to do and what I will do is if you graduate from a college, I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country," NBC quoted Trump as saying in June.

A spokesperson for the Trump campaign commented at the time that the proposal was only intended for highly skilled graduates and that all applicants would be screened to “exclude all communists, radical Islamists, Hamas supporters, America haters, and public charges," CNN reported.