Brown University tells its international community they “may wish to return” before Inauguration Day

“1,800 of Brown’s students will come to College Hill from countries beyond the United States”, notes Brown University’s Office of Global Engagement. Yesterday, that office at Brown posted a “Winter Break Travel Guidance for International Community”, dated December 3, 2024, on their website.

The Guidance (emphasis in bold made by Brown): “As members of our international community prepare for Winter Break travel, we are reaching out to provide information and guidance, share important reminders, and direct you to available resources.

During previous federal government transitions, international faculty, students, staff and scholars have experienced travel disruptions and uncertainty based on policy changes that impact travel and visa processing. To avoid potential travel disruptions during this transition, members of the international community may wish to return to Providence before Monday, January 20, 2025.

It is important to note that at this time, no travel restrictions or bans have been announced or confirmed. Thus, this guidance is precautionary only. However, based on previous travel restrictions and bans, we encourage international faculty, students, staff and scholars from countries designated as “countries of particular concern” or “special watch list countries” by the U.S. Secretary of State — such as Algeria, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and others — or from countries impacted by past federal travel restrictions —  including Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Tanzania, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen – to be aware of potential travel restrictions or bans.”

The page goes on to list practical information such as to expect delays, what items to carry on their person, proper Brown University document filing, and emergency contact notifications.

In an article by the Brown Daily Herald (student publication), they note that the guidance was issued for students to return by January 20th “when President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office”.

The article notes that approximately 408,000 undocumented students are currently enrolled in American colleges and universities, and that Pres-elect Trump ”pledged to launch the ‘largest deportation’ effort of undocumented immigrants in U.S. history. The article also notes “Trump has also vowed to reinstate his 2017 travel ban [quoting a Time Magazine article] which affected predominantly Muslim countries, but was “later extended to North Korea, Venezuela and Chad”.

One student said, “On his first flight to the U.S., [he] experienced repeated ‘random’ security inspections, intrusive questioning and luggage searches. Traveling home is no longer a risk but an impossibility, as leaving the U.S. could mean not being able to return,” [the student from Syria] continued.

Other universities mimic the wording and message – come home before inauguration day

The article notes that “Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale and Wesleyan University have also issued similar advisories. The above was taken from a Connecticut PBS station website. The body of the Wesleyan letter to their international students read, “With the presidential inauguration happening on Monday, January 20, 2025, and uncertainties around President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for immigration-related policy, the safest way to avoid difficulty re-entering the country is to be physically present in the U.S. on January 19th and the days thereafter of the spring semester,” the letter continues.”

The University of Massachusetts put up a Holiday Break Travel Advisory. It said, in part: “Please note this is not a requirement or mandate from UMass, nor is it based on any current U.S. government policy or recommendation. However, given that a new presidential administration can enact new policies on their first day in office (January 20), and 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. 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. Undergraduate international students who live on-campus will be permitted to move back in early if needed.”

Providence College

We checked in with a few colleges and by publication time we had heard from Providence College which had nothing of the “return by inauguration day” on their website – noting in an email response to us: “Classes resume here on January 13 so all students will be back on campus then.”

University of Rhode Island

There was nothing similar to the return home by January 20th, and college contacts did not return requests for response.