US Colleges Urge International Students to Come Back Before Trump's Immigration Reforms Take Effect

November 29 :
Several American universities are requesting that foreign students and employees return to campus before Trump's inauguration in January, in anticipation of significant changes to US immigration policies during his presidency. With the promise of widespread deportations and severe immigration policies from president-elect Donald Trump, travel and visa status concerns are growing.

A number of universities have issued travel cautions, including UMass Amherst, MIT, and Wesleyan University. If you want to prevent problems like the ones that happened during Trump's first term, these advises say you should get back to the US before January 20. It is worth mentioning that in 2017, Trump issued an executive order that banned citizens of various countries with a majority of Muslims, as well as North Korea and Venezuela. Professor Chloe East of the University of Colorado Denver told the BBC that many students worry about their visas and if they would be able to continue their education.

The Office of International Students and Scholars at Yale University has also organized webinars to address concerns, discussing possible changes to immigration policy under the next administration. More than 400 thousand illegal students are presently attending universities in the United States, according to the Higher Education Immigration Portal. The future is a mystery to many people right now.

The program that shields migrants who came to the United States as children, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), was almost terminated during Trump's first administration. There is still concern that other groups, such as international students, may be subject to increased scrutiny, despite statements made by Trump's border enforcement appointment, Tom Homan, that violent offenders and national security risks would be deported first.

Aoi Maeda, a Japanese student at Earlham College in Indiana, expressed her concern that international students with visas could be impacted and deported more easily. Given Trump's possible ideas, she voiced her reservations about finishing her degree. In light of the worsening U.S.-China relations, many Chinese students are concerned that the United States may take harsher action against Chinese nationals.