Shortly after Donald Trump won the presidential election on Nov. 5, colleges around the country began to send out cautions to international student populations, recommending that they be on campus prior to the inauguration on Jan. 20. 

“The Office of Global Affairs (formerly the International Programs Office) recommends that our UMass Amherst international community — including all international students, scholars, faculty and staff under UMass immigration sponsorship — strongly consider returning to the United States prior to the presidential inauguration day of January 20, 2025 if they are planning on traveling internationally during the winter holiday break,” shared the University of Massachusetts on Nov. 15 in a post on their International Student and Scholar Services site.

Although this post is meant to be a suggestion for students and faculty of the University of Massachusetts, it caused concern among the higher education community.

Miriam Feldblum is the executive director of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, an organization that works with the Presidents of universities around the country to research immigration policy and how it affects students on college campuses. 

She recently spoke to the New York Times, CNN and Georgetown about her concerns about international students and immigration policy. 

Feldblum attributes this concern from colleges around the U.S. to President Trump’s Travel Ban 1.0, issued as Executive Order 13769 on January 27, 2017. This order banned all individuals entering the United States from countries such as Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, including green card and visa holders.

“When the first travel ban was put in place, it actually impacted all those coming from the countries travel was suspended from — including international students — [affecting] non-citizen students and researchers, whether or not they had an F1 or J1 visa. By the time the Travel Ban 2.0 and 3.0 came into effect, it exempted students on F1 and J1 visas, but that first period of time, it was more expansive and inclusive, covering more populations,” she said. 

After its 90-day period, this ban became the Travel Ban 2.0 on March 6, 2017, exempting individuals with green cards and visas. However, the initial travel affected over 40,000 students and faculty at universities around the U.S. 

Madeline Hsu, director of the Center for Global Migration Studies at the University of Maryland, is unsure of how the coming months will look like for international students but shares why she believes schools are issuing these warnings. 

“In January of 2017, a Muslim ban was immediately issued, and it was known that people flying into airports [in the U.S.] would run into problems. I know a lot of immigration lawyers and a lot of immigration advocates immediately went to airports anticipating that people would need help. So, I think these institutions are issuing warnings to their students to avoid that kind of situation,” she said. 

Other schools, such as Yale University and Cornell, have also put out statements. Cornell stated “A travel ban is likely to go into effect soon after inauguration. 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.”

Schools aren’t sure of what is to come for their international and immigrant student bodies. Florida Atlantic University, among other schools such as the University of Florida and Florida State University, have chosen to stay silent on the topic. Joshua Glanzer, associate director of FAU’s media relations and public affairs, stated that commenting would be “too speculative.”

Feldblum shares that because of the current political landscape in Florida, schools are choosing to be more mindful of what statements they put out, which may be why schools, such as FAU, are choosing not to comment.

In a June 2024 episode of “All In,” a podcast hosted by Silicon Valley Investors Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks and David Friedberg, Trump shared that he believes international students who graduate from a U.S. college should receive a green card as well. 

“What I want to do, and what I will do, is: 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,” he said. 

However, Feldblum explains that this sentiment has not been echoed by his administration.

“There has been a call and a commitment by the incoming administration to close the border, to enact on the very first day executive orders that would be dramatic in scope. That’s what we hear. In that case, because we don’t know what it will encompass, but we can imagine the chaos, the confusion, the uncertainty. It’s far better for students who are going to be coming from abroad not to get caught up in that,” she said.

Hsu believes that Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric in 2017 mostly targeted individuals coming from Muslim countries, however, she isn’t sure who else may be affected by this.  

“There are threats to take action immediately, but we don’t know who exactly is going to be targeted and how it is going to be implemented. There has been talk about declaring a national emergency and then using that to call out the military to round up people. That is a huge deployment of authority,” she said. 

Feldblum shares the sentiment within all of these warnings and recommendations, sharing that many schools are choosing to stay vigilant.

“Campuses were caught off-guard in 2017, but now they are working to prepare their campuses and their staff,” Feldblum said.

Michael Rosino, assistant professor of sociology at Molloy University and author of “Democracy is Awkward: Grappling with Racism in Grassroots Political Organizing,” explains how attacks on the freedom of speech of students dependent on F1 and J1 visas have been demonstrated by President Trump, especially following student protests led for the war in Gaza. 

“Trump really amplified the idea that students with F1 visas are coming to the U.S. and further engaging in campus unrest and sort of this ‘political indoctrination.’ He explicitly said that students from other countries — be it the Caribbean, Africa, India, China — who protested should have their F1 visas revoked,” he said. “So I think that there’s going to be a lot more tightening around what types of students are wanted.”

Rosino believes in the importance of the warnings sent out to students, expressing that they are beneficial not only for students but also for the schools themselves.

“I think once [international students] are on campus, it is a lot more difficult to remove [them]. Most of us that are a part of college communities recognize how wonderful it is to have international students for a whole host of reasons,” he said. “So, for anyone who waits after the inauguration, it is going to create that much more chaos, and it is going to be that much more uncertain. They might even be re-entering the country under different rules or policies.”

Hsu reaffirms that with proper visas and accommodations, international students have nothing to worry about as their status within the country remains legal. She shares some of the resources available for international students on her campus, from an office for Immigrant and Undocumented Student Life to Migrant Study socials hosted by their university. 

Similar resources are available at FAU, including the Office of International Student Services, which offers resources and programs for students on visas. 

Rosino explains that with these concerns, schools should provide more support for their international students outside of their immigration statuses. 

“It would be really helpful for administrators and campuses to really commit to a dedication to supporting and protecting students, not only from this threat of their immigration status being challenged, but to protect them from hate crimes, from feelings of exclusion, and microaggression,” he said. 

Gabriela Quintero is the Student Life Editor for the University Press. For more information on this or other stories, contact Quintero at gquintero2022@fau.edu.