Campuses Advise International Students to Return by Inauguration Day

Inside Higher Ed

Johanna Alonso

November 26, 2024

At least three universities have encouraged their international students and employees to come back from the winter holiday break ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, due to concerns that he could use his first days in office to issue executive orders blocking them from returning.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Office of Global Affairs shared a holiday break travel advisory—noting that it was not a requirement or official policy—recommending that such individuals return by Inauguration Day.

“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,” the office wrote on Instagram. “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 message said the university would allow international students living on campus to move back into their campus housing early if necessary to accommodate the request.

Other institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Wesleyan University, sent similar notices to their international students.

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