As many college students and faculty get ready to enjoy spring break, others are feeling trapped within U.S. borders. If they leave, they could risk deportation.
Some experts are calling the Trump administration’s latest immigration actions unprecedented.
Just during March, a physician at Brown traveling back to the U.S. from her home in Lebanon had her visa canceled, and an Indian Ph.D. student at Columbia self-deported to Canada following a raid by ICE at her apartment.
On Sunday, Brown University sent a campus-wide email advising faculty, students and other community members on visas or permanent residency status to postpone personal international travel for spring break, which runs from March 22 to 30. Columbia University and Cornell University released similar guidance on their website this past week. At the end of last year, several institutions warned international students to return to the U.S. before Trump took office.
“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 that was shared with USA TODAY by the university.
The advisories follow a handful of students across these universities who recently had their visa status revoked. President Donald Trump’s executive order on national security and public safety threats has resulted in ramped-up deportations. There’s also a potential travel ban on citizens from 41 countries, including Iran, Syria, Cuba and Afghanistan.