Return ASAP: US universities rush students, including from India, amid Trump scare

Winter break is a time when students return to their families and spend a long time at home. That's especially true for international students. However, this winter break, hundreds of thousands of international students are getting the chill, with top American universities issuing circulars and urging students to rush back to campuses before January 20. The fear is that with President-elect Donald Trump taking charge, it might become difficult for many of those students to return to the US.

There are more than 1.1 million international students, including thousands of Indians, enroled in the 2023-24 academic year. Trump has promised a more hardline immigration policy after he returns to the White House.

This includes a travel ban on people from predominantly Muslim countries and the revocation of student visas of “radical anti-American and anti-semitic foreigners", according to a CNN report. students come to the US on non-immigrant visas, which permit them to study but not stay in the US.

Though students from India and China aren't on the initial list of countries Trump is planning to crack down on, universities aren't dropping their guard. The circulars warn that students from these two countries too could be hit subsequently.

"New countries could be added to this list, particularly China and India,” read the circular from Cornell University.

According to a report by Open Doors, India became the leading source of international students, beating China in the United States for the 2023-2024 academic year, with a 23% increase in enrolment, amounting to 3.3 lakh students.

THE BAN COULD INCLUDE EVEN INDIAN STUDENTS

“It’s a scary time for international students,” Pramath Pratap Misra, a 23-year-old student who graduated from New York University, told CNN.

NYU has some of the highest numbers of international students, and they are now gearing up to sit for finals even before their winter break ends.

Cornell University’s Office of Global Learning was also quick to suggest that its international students return before January 21. It suggested that students "communicate with an advisor about your travel plans and be prepared for delays".

“A travel ban is likely to go into effect soon after the inauguration,” the university warned students in late November.

“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. New countries could be added to this list, particularly China and India.”

Administrators of another university, which had 17,000 foreign students in the last academic year, rushed students to head back to the campus a week before the inauguration.

The reason was “one or more executive orders impacting travel ... and visa processing” and the students' lives could be impacted.

“While there’s no certainty such orders will be issued, the safest way to avoid any challenges is to be physically present in the US before the spring semester begins on January 13, 2025,” the USC Office of Service stated.

These official notices by colleges show an atmosphere of fear and rush before Trump’s inauguration.

SOME STUDENTS WITH HIGH SKILLS CAN GET GREEN CARDS

All of Trump’s promises are not bad news for international students.

He has promised that anyone who does graduate from a US college will get a green card.

This proposal might be pursued by Trump, reported CNN.

His spokesperson has said that this will be limited to highly skilled graduates.

This comes after some universities asked students to return to campus right after a Trump win in November.

In November, the University of Massachusetts issued a travel advisory, urging international students and faculty to return to campus from winter break before Trump's inauguration on January 20.

"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," the college said, reported the BBC.