US Universities urge international students to return before Trump’s 2025 inauguration amid travel ban fears

Universities such as Harvard, Brown, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Southern California issued advisories to foreign students as some begin their classes after the Presidential inauguration on January 20, 2025.

Hyderabad: Several US universities advised its international students, including Indians, on winter break to return to the US before the President-elect Donald Trump takes over office on January 20, 2025. The move comes amid growing concerns over travel restrictions and a plan of mass deportation by the new US government.

The universities including Harvard and Brown, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University and University of Southern California issued the advisory to foreign students as some of them commence classes after the Presidential inauguration day on January 20, 2025.

---

In one such advisory, the University of Massachusetts Amherst strongly recommended its international community, including students, scholars, faculty and staff, to return to the US prior to the Presidential inauguration day.

“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 2017, 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. 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,” the advisory read.

In his last term at office in 2017, Trump issued an executive order, banning citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen from traveling to the US.

“Given the past experience, the Trump administration is unpredictable. Some universities have advised students to return to campuses fearing potential travel restrictions and deportation issues,” said a US Education expert.

As per the Open Doors 2024 report, over 1.1 million international students enrolled in the US universities during the 2023-24. Indians emerged as the largest source of foreign students in the US, surpassing China. As per the report, 3,31,602 Indian students studying in the US universities as against 277,398 Chinese.