Jaweed Kaleem | (TNS) Los Angeles Occasions
LOS ANGELES — As a global pupil at USC who had not been dwelling for a 12 months, Kevin Lu was excited to return over winter break to see his mother and father within the Chinese language metropolis of Shenzhen.
However with President-elect Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration approaching, he modified his thoughts, selecting to stay in Los Angeles.
“It’s too risky,” mentioned Lu, a senior majoring in finance. Lu cited Trump’s hawkish stance on China, restrictions throughout his first time period on Chinese language pupil visas for students as a result of they had been a safety “threat” and guarantees to signal one other journey ban just like the one practically eight years in the past that left many visa-holding college students stranded at airports.
“You don’t know what’s next,” Lu mentioned.
At USC, the place greater than 1 / 4 of its 47,000 college students are internationals, many are scrambling — with some altering their journey plans on the last-minute and others rethinking post-graduation work searches within the U.S. — forward of an incoming administration that has despatched combined alerts on its curiosity in international college students and employees.
The college is warning foreigners to comply with in Lu’s footsteps by skipping or reducing brief journey exterior the U.S. after finals finish subsequent week.
“A new presidential administration will take office on January 20, 2025, and — as is common — may issue one or more executive orders impacting travel to the U.S. and visa processing. While there’s no certainty such orders will be issued, the safest way to avoid any challenges is to be physically present in the U.S. before the spring semester begins on January 13, 2025,” mentioned a letter the USC Workplace of Worldwide Providers despatched this month.
Throughout his first time period, Trump’s journey restrictions affected a number of Muslim-majority nations, Iran and Iraq amongst them. The Supreme Court docket dominated the bans had been authorized. Exterior the courtroom, immigration specialists mentioned the bans had been based mostly on restricted and at instances deceptive knowledge about safety vetting of U.S. guests, immigrants and refugees.
This time, he has mentioned he’ll institute one other journey and refugee ban on “Gaza, Syria, Somalia, Yemen or Libya or anywhere else that threatens our security.”
He mentioned he continues to view China as an financial and safety rival and can mandate tariffs on imports. On the identical time, his marketing campaign included guarantees to “automatically” give inexperienced playing cards, which is everlasting residency, to foreigners who graduate from U.S. universities — however mentioned the group can be restricted after vetting to maintain solely the “most skilled graduates.”
USC shouldn’t be the alone in issuing its advisory. The College of Massachusetts Amherst’s Workplace of International Affairs just lately put out an identical message that “out of an abundance of caution,” worldwide college students ought to return to the nation earlier than the inauguration. The Massachusetts Institute of Expertise and Wesleyan College additionally launched such a discover.
Pragya Bhatt, a USC sophomore from Bangalore, India, mentioned the college advisory introduced into sharper focus considerations she was already feeling after the election.
“I am not as worried immediately about my own situation because I have a valid visa, am visiting home during the break and already had a ticket to be back here by January 13,” mentioned Bhatt, who research communications and cognitive science. “But it really makes me wonder how friendly the U.S. is overall to people like me. I still have time before I graduate but I am wondering if I should even consider trying to stay in America afterwards.”
Niels W. Frenzen, a USC Gould College of Legislation professor and co-director of the varsity’s immigration clinic, mentioned he has seen a speedy improve in questions from college students over what the upcoming Trump time period means for his or her immigration standing.
“We have been doing know-your-rights sessions and lots of students have come in for individual sessions just to check in even if their paperwork is all in order,” mentioned Frenzen, whose clinic just lately hosted a workshop on immigration hurdles forward of White Home modifications. The preliminary journey ban centered on Muslim-majority nations, however the revised model of it upheld by the Supreme Court docket included two extra nations, Venezuela and North Korea.
“It’s not just people who are international students, who are less likely to face issues but certainly did during the early part of the first Trump presidency during the Muslim ban,” Frenzen mentioned. Issues are additionally rising from “students who are undocumented, who come from mixed [immigration] status families or who are ‘DACA-mented,’” Frenzen mentioned, referring to the Deferred Motion for Childhood Arrivals program that enables those that got here to the U.S. as youngsters with out authorized authorization to legally keep and work within the nation.
Jihwan Lee, a USC pupil from South Korea, mentioned the priority amongst internationals he is aware of is determined by their dwelling nation’s relationship to the U.S.
“I personally do not have any direct concern for any potential travel restrictions…. I am staying here during the break anyway, and even if I left the U.S., I do believe South Korean citizens would not be affected by such travel restrictions,” mentioned Lee, who’s pursuing a doctorate. South Korea is a powerful U.S. ally.
“I do not think there will be such travel restrictions or visa problems for European Union citizens or pro-U.S. East Asian countries, for example,” Lee mentioned.
Annabelle Layt, a USC senior from Australia, additionally mentioned she was much less involved due to her background.
“I’m in my fourth year, so in terms of the visa and documents needed for entering and exiting the country I know the drill,” mentioned Layt, a enterprise main. She mentioned she had determined months in the past to skip a winter break journey dwelling, close to Brisbane, to save cash.
“But it’s really hard to know what will happen. Will Trump be better or worse for international students?”
Some USC college students and professors interviewed mentioned they didn’t count on main modifications or weren’t listening to pupil considerations.
“My group is nearly 100% international and we have always been affected by visa issues,” mentioned Anna Krylov, a USC chemistry professor whose lecturers many worldwide college students. “For example, two graduate students who joined my group this year lost a full year of studies because it took them more than a year to get their student visa.”
A longtime professor, she mentioned she’s seen related tales over the last decade below Presidents Biden, Trump and Obama.
“In other instances, I had my students and postdocs stranded abroad, waiting for a visa renewal, for weeks and sometimes months,” Krylov mentioned. “Our classes start on Jan. 13, so I expect everyone to be back before that date.”
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Initially Printed: December 11, 2024 at 10:23 AM PST
