Colleges and universities are warning international students to avoid leaving the U.S. for spring break amid the Trump administration’s continuous deportation threats.
Even though international students are in the U.S. legally on student visas, schools are expressing concern that if those students leave the country, they won’t be allowed back in. The warnings come as Trump has proposed travel bans targeting 43 countries, some highly publicized deportations have already taken place, and new raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at colleges and universities have stoked fear in many.
In an email Thursday, NYU administrators warned both students and faculty against any “nonessential travel,” especially to the countries Trump targets in his proposed travel bans. “While we are not extending that same guidance to our entire international community, we would suggest that if you are uneasy or have some hesitancy about international travel right now, you consider remaining in the United States during the break out of an abundance of caution,” the email said.
Likewise, Brown University released similar guidance in a school-wide email. “We understand that many in our community are feeling a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety as news media share reports of federal deportation actions against individuals who are non-U.S. citizens,” Russell C. Carey, executive vice president for planning and policy and interim vice president for campus life at Brown, said in the email shared with USA Today. Carey added, “Potential changes in travel restrictions and travel bans, visa procedures and processing, reentry requirements, and other travel-related delays may affect travelers’ ability to return to the U.S. as planned.” Columbia University and Cornell University have posted similar warnings on their websites.
Under Trump’s orders, a recent series of highly publicized and potentially illegal deportations have been reported on lately. Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful U.S. resident and graduate of Columbia University, who helped organize protests last spring against Israel’s ongoing siege on Gaza, was detained by ICE agents and taken to an immigration jail in Louisiana. A judge ordered Khalil to be kept in the U.S. for now, but in a social media post, Trump warned that the arrest would be the “first of many” and called those who speak against Israel’s U.S.-funded bombing of Palestine “antisemitic” and “anti-American.” The post warned, “We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country—never to return again.”
Following Khalil’s arrest, a physician at Brown had her visa canceled when returning to the U.S. from her home in Lebanon, despite a judge’s order. A French scientist was also denied entry to the U.S. after immigration officials found texts on his phone that were critical of Trump. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said the texts “could be qualified as terrorism.”
It’s not the first time colleges and universities have urged international students to avoid travel at certain times. Last year, schools warned international students to get back on U.S. soil before Trump took office, fearing that if they did not, the administration’s new travel restrictions might prevent their return. At the time, Northeastern University in Boston, which has the second-highest number of international students (after NYU), sent an alert from the Office of Global Services to the school’s international community: “To minimize potential disruption to your studies, work, or research, we strongly recommend returning to the U.S. no later than January 6, 2025, the start of Northeastern’s Winter/Spring academic term. This will allow you to be present on campus before possible restrictions take effect.”
