Among schools nationwide, Haverford and Penn warn international students to return to campus before Trump inauguration

Haverford College has urged its international students to be back on campus before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20, alerting them to potential immigration changes and reminding them their social media posts can be searched by authorities.

The University of Pennsylvania issued a similar notice to students who may be traveling to and from their homelands or other countries during winter break.

“We understand these circumstances can feel overwhelming and stressful,” Haverford’s Office of International Student Support wrote. “We are closely monitoring developments and consulting with legal counsel. … We are committed to keeping you informed and supporting you through any challenges.”

The imminent arrival of a second Trump administration, and its promised hard focus on immigration, is driving concern not only in migrant communities in Philadelphia and around the United States, but also on American campuses that collectively host more than 1.1 million foreign students.

The University of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Wesleyan University, and Yale University have issued advisories or hosted events to answer questions, the BBC reported.

Most Philadelphia-area colleges start their semesters before or immediately after Jan. 20, so it’s likely many local students already will have returned to the country before the inauguration.

International students say they are concerned about increased scrutiny, processing delays, and their ability to stay and work in the U.S. when their education is completed. Currently, under some conditions, international students can work for years in the United States and even seek to settle here permanently.

“For me, there’s somewhat of a concern whether the sentiments toward international students will change,” said a Chinese underclassman at Haverford, who asked that her name not be published because she feared repercussions from the new administration.

International students represent about 13% of the 1,472 students at Haverford College, who come from 51 countries to the highly selective undergraduate liberal-arts institution outside Philadelphia.

Trump has promised to reinstate, “even bigger than before,” his first-term travel ban that barred people from predominantly Muslim countries, which could affect college students, and to expand the exclusion to refugees from Gaza.

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He has threatened to revoke the visas of pro-Palestinian protesters who have rallied in favor of Hamas or other designated terrorist groups or have been suspended or expelled from their campuses. Protesters erected encampments that disrupted campuses locally and nationally in the spring.

More than half the international students in the U.S. come from China and India.

Temple University sophomore Moulishka Sawant, 19, here from India, wants Trump to follow through on an idea he shared about letting some students stay.

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She noted that Trump said he would push for a program to provide green cards — permanent residency — to all international students upon graduation, so they could contribute to the U.S. economy. His campaign quickly clarified that such a policy would apply only to the “most skilled graduates who can make significant contributions to America,” the New York Times reported.

“I think if he is going to stand by what he said, then I feel really hopeful,” said Sawant, a computer-science major.

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Others are more concerned.

“I think Trump being president will make it harder to study in USA,” said Wang Ke, 23, a graduate student in entrepreneurship who came to Temple University from China.

She’s not planning to travel home this summer because she wants to get an internship, but also because of concern about whether she would be allowed to return.

“I’m scared that his attitude toward China may influence … some people to also have a bad attitude toward Chinese,” she said.

Together, the million-plus international scholars account for nearly 6% of all college students in this country, according to Open Doors, an information resource sponsored by the State Department. International students are attractive to colleges because they frequently pay full tuition costs. They also bring diversity, global thinking, and cultural breadth to campuses.

Their risk looms not only in travel bans aimed at specific countries, but also in processing delays that could hinder their ability to be in the U.S. in time for classes.

In late November, Haverford alerted students to potential complications under the new administration, reminding them they can seek permission to move back to campus as early as Jan. 14. It told students to be mindful of their online presence, which can be subject to review by authorities.

Some visa applications ask applicants to provide their social media handles and usernames from the last five years, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers can inspect the electronic devices of those entering the United States.

At Temple, “I think there’s more fear of the unknown than real concern about changes in administration policy,” said Martyn Miller, assistant vice president of the Office of Global Engagement. International students saw processing delays during Trump’s first term, but experienced little other impact, he said.

“I might be optimistic but I believe the same will happen now,” he said. “If a student has the paperwork in order, I don’t see any issues.”

International students had an economic impact of $43 billion in 2023, which creates bipartisan political support for having students come here to learn, he said.

Losing them could post a risk for colleges. Any absence of international students could further erode enrollment at a time when schools already are competing for a shrinking number of high school students.

First-year international enrollments declined every year during Trump’s presidency. Overall international enrollment increased slightly in all but his final year, largely because more students stayed in postgraduation campus positions or internships.

Allan Goodman, chief executive officer of the Institute of International Education, which produces Open Doors, is cautiously optimistic that campus fears might not be realized.

“It’s much too soon to tell, but we’ve seen the movie, at least the first installment of the movie, before,” he said, “and America led the world in hosting international students, and I think we still will.”

Miriam Feldblum, executive director of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, whose membership of nearly 600 college presidents includes those from Rowan, Rutgers, Bryn Mawr, Penn, Haverford, and Swarthmore said, “Now is the time to prepare, not panic.”

Trump has pledged to carry out the largest deportation in American history, targeting millions of undocumented immigrants who live in the United States. That poses a threat to another group of college students — more than 400,000 undocumented who are enrolled in U.S. higher education. All could potentially face deportation.

About 30% of those students have protection from deportation under DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program that allows some people who were here as children to live, work, and drive in the U.S.

DACA provides no permanent immigration status, nor does it offer a path to citizenship. Trump tried to end DACA during his first term, and a case challenging the legality of the program is in litigation.

International student Chidinma Agbara, here from Nigeria and seeking her MBA at Temple, said she became concerned when she saw online notices telling international students to return to the U.S. before the inauguration. She plans no winter travel over break but intends to travel to Nigeria this summer.

“What I tell myself now is I am here legally, and I have done everything I’m supposed to do as an international student,” said Agbara, who works in the university’s global engagement office. “Another thing that is a comfort to me is we have a department here dedicated to international students at Temple. If I have any problems, I know they would assist.”

This article contains information from the Associated Press.