US campuses urge international students to return before President-elect Donald Trump inauguration

U.S. colleges advise international students to return before Trump's inauguration due to potential travel bans, urging caution.

A growing number of U.S. colleges and universities are advising international students to return to campus before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, over concerns that he might impose travel bans like he did during his first Administration.

More than a dozen schools have issued advisories, even though Mr. Trump’s plans remain uncertain. At some schools, the spring semester begins before Mr. Trump will take office, so students may have to be back in class anyway. But for anyone whose ability to stay in the United States depends on an academic visa, they say it's best to reduce their risks and get back to campus before Jan. 20, 2025.

Here’s a look at what Mr. Trump has said and done and how schools and students are preparing for his second term:

Mr. Trump issued an executive order in January 2017 banning travel to the U.S. by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries — Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. Travelers from those nations were either barred from getting on their flights or detained at U.S. airports after they landed. They included students and faculty as well as business people, tourists and visitors to friends and family.

Mr. Trump later removed some countries and added others to the list — 15 nations were affected at some point during his presidency. More than 40,000 people were ultimately refused visas because of the ban, according to the U.S. State Department. President Joe Biden rescinded the orders when he took office in 2021.

More than 1.1 million international students were enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities during the 2023-24 school year, according to Open Doors, a data project partially funded by the U.S. State Department. Students from India and China have accounted for more than half of all international students in the U.S., and about 43,800 come from the 15 countries affected by Mr. Trump’s travel restrictions.

Jacky Li, a third-year environmental studies major at University of California, Berkeley, will be traveling home to China Dec. 21, 2024 and returning Jan. 16, 2025. Though he made his plans months before Berkeley officials sent the advisory, he said worry is growing among international students.