Universities Urge Foreign Students to Return to the U.S. Before Trump's Inauguration

More than 12 universities in the U.S., including Harvard, Brown, MIT, and the University of Southern California, have advised their students to return to the U.S. before Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20. These warnings have been issued due to increasing concerns about the potential reinstatement of travel restrictions by the President-elect of the United States. According to an Associated Press report, this issue primarily concerns students residing in the U.S. on student visas, and universities are worried that potential decisions by the President-elect could jeopardize their residency status. In early 2017, Trump issued an executive order banning travel from citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen, to the U.S.; this restriction affected students, professors, and other travelers, many of whom faced significant issues, including entry bans, upon arriving in the U.S. This travel restriction list expanded during Trump's presidency, ultimately affecting 15 countries. According to the U.S. State Department, over 40,000 people were denied visas due to these restrictions; these orders were revoked in 2021 by current President Joe Biden. What is the current status of students? According to the Open Doors project, which is partially funded by the U.S. State Department, over 1.1 million international students studied at U.S. universities in the 2023-2024 academic year. Chinese and Indian students make up more than half of this number, with about 43,000 coming from countries that were subject to travel restrictions during Trump's presidency. Cornell University has also indicated that it expects travel bans for countries affected by previous Trump orders to be implemented 'soon after the inauguration,' and countries like China and India may also be added to the list. Although Trump's transition team has not yet reacted to this issue, he has previously indicated his intention to reinstate and expand travel bans for foreign citizens to the U.S. During his election campaign in October 2023, he emphasized that he would prevent the entry of 'dangerous extremists' from places like Gaza, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, and Libya. In one of his election speeches last October in Iowa, he stated, 'We will not let anyone from Gaza, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, or Libya, or anywhere else that threatens our security, into our country.' He also committed to revoking student visas for 'foreign radical anti-American and anti-Semitic individuals' at our colleges and universities in response to protests at U.S. universities this year. In this context, a U.S. appellate court deemed lawsuits against Trump's travel order 'inadmissible.' A formal complaint by a group of American and Iranian citizens against Trump's travel bans has been filed, highlighting the severe government crackdown and the risk of protests going 'underground.'