Universities in the United States reportedly urged international students and staff to return to campus before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. Several higher education institutes in the US reported that international students and staff members are feeling uncertain about their future amid concerns over his plans for mass deportation of immigrants, according to a report by BBC.
US President-elect Trump, during the election campaign, pledged to enact the largest deportation operation in history and even enlist the help of the US military to actualize the operation. The Republican leader, who is set to take office on January 20, attempted to end the Obama-era programme shielding over half a million migrants who came to the US as children from deportation during his first presidency.
“Students are incredibly overwhelmed and stressed out right now as a result of the uncertainty around immigration,” BBC report quoted professor Chloe East of the University of Colorado, Denver as saying.
“A lot of students have concerns about their visas and whether they’ll be allowed to continue their education.”
The University of Massachusetts, on November 5, issued a travel advisory to its international students, faculty and staff, asking them to “strongly consider” returning to campus from winter break before Mr Trump’s inaugural on January 5.
“Given that a new presidential administration can enact new policies on their first day in office (January 20), and based on previous experience with travel bans that were enacted in the first Trump Administration in 2016, the Office of Global Affairs is making this advisory out of an abundance of caution to hopefully prevent any possible travel disruption to members of our international community,” the advisory said.
“We are not able to speculate on what a travel ban will look like if enacted, nor can we speculate on what particular countries or regions of the world may or may not be affected,” it added.
The Wesleyan University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have also reportedly issued travel advisories for international students and staff asking them to consider returning to the US before January 20.