Amid growing concerns over President Donald Trump’s immigration and mass deportation plans, international students and staff have been advised by US universities to return to campus before the president-elect’s inauguration in January, the BBC reported. .
“All international students are worried right now,” said Chloe East, a professor at the University of Colorado Denver.
Earlier this month, the Republican president-elect declared a national emergency on border security and acknowledged plans to deploy the U.S. military to carry out mass deportations of illegal immigrants in the United States.
Immigration is one of the top issues in the U.S. presidential campaign, with President Trump calling for millions of people to illegally immigrate to the U.S. after a record number of people appear to have immigrated to the U.S. illegally under the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden. He promised to deport them and stabilize the Mexican border.
More than 400,000 undocumented students are enrolled in higher education in the United States, the BBC reported, citing the Higher Education Immigration Portal.
Officials in the incoming Trump administration have indicated that vast detention facilities will be built for undocumented immigrants on mass deportation lists.
President-elect Tom Homan, the border czar, also announced that the Trump administration would focus on increased workplace searches as part of its immigration enforcement strategy.
Homan also indicated that only foreign nationals who have already been ordered deported would be affected. The “border czar” emphasized that migrants who received such orders “became fugitives.”
Professor East told the BBC that students are currently feeling extremely overwhelmed and stressed as a result of the uncertainty surrounding immigration, adding: “Many students are concerned about their visas and whether they will be allowed to continue their education. I’m hugging you,” he added.
US universities send recommendations
Meanwhile, at Yale University, the Office of International Students and Scholars hosted a webinar this month, citing student concerns about potential changes to immigration policy.
The University of Massachusetts issued a travel advisory in November for international students, faculty and staff, asking them to “strongly consider” returning to campus from winter break before President Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
Citing the university’s notice, the BBC said: “The Department of International Affairs is making this recommendation out of an abundance of caution, based on previous experience with the travel ban enacted under the first Trump administration in 2016. ” he said.
During his first week in the Oval Office in 2017, President Trump signed an executive order banning citizens of several Muslim-majority countries, North Korea, and Venezuela from visiting the United States.
Indian students living in the US
For the first time since 2009, India will send more students to the US than any other country, with over 331,600 students pursuing higher education courses at US institutions in 2023-2024, compared to the previous year. It increased by 23% compared to the previous year.
This number makes India the leading source country for international students to the United States, accounting for 29% of the total international student population of 1.21 million from more than 210 countries in 2023-24, according to the Open Doors report.
India was the largest contributor of graduate (master’s and doctoral level) students to the United States for the second year in a row.
