American colleges are warning thousands of foreign students from the predominantly Muslim countries included in President Trump’s immigration ban not to leave the country, fearing they may not be allowed to return.
The dean of faculty at Princeton University “strongly advised” international students covered under the ban to delay their travel out of the United States, and to seek out lawyers if they had to leave the country. At Tulane University in New Orleans, the office of international students advised those from the countries affected by the ban to carry identification with them at all times, and keep a copy of a brochure from the American Civil Liberties Union that outlined their rights.
Stanford’s president and two other top administrators sent a message to the college describing the experience of a Sudanese graduate student, a legal permanent resident of the United States, who had been “briefly handcuffed” and detained for hours at the airport before she was released.
“An unfortunate consequence of the new policy appears to be that students and scholars from designated countries are, for the moment, effectively detainees in this country,” the email said.
International students are especially vulnerable to repercussions from the immigration order, since many leave the country frequently over school breaks to visit family. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment about how the ban would affect international student visa holders.
There were about 12,000 Iranians studying in the US in 2016, making the country the 11th largest source of international students, according to the Institute of International Education. Iranian students have historically been given only single-entry visas, which do not allow them to travel back-and-forth between the US and Iran during their studies, meaning many rely on their families to visit them in the US. (Buzz feeds.com)
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