President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 has left several universities advising international students to take affirmative steps in preparation of future immigration policies.
Universities including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Michigan and Harvard University have shared information with their student bodies referencing “the potential changes in policies governing U.S. visas and immigration,” according to the University of Michigan newsletter.
Many of these communities including the University of Michigan urge students, in said messages, to maintain their status, apply for visas as soon as possible and to plan ahead concerning international travel.
According to the University of Kentucky’s International Center, approximately 1,500 members of the student body are international students attending the university.
UK’s President Eli Capilouto made a statement about Trump’s future executive orders and their potential impacts.
However, UK has not yet created a statement addressing any future immigration policies that could affect international students at this time.
Christian Frontado, a Venezuelan international student at UK, said his main concern was how future policies could impact his life.
“I am worried about my friends that aren’t American citizens and especially like I know people that used to have DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), know people that are here on green card, some others are here on TPS (Temporary Protected Status),” Frontado said. “A lot of Venezuelans have TPS and that’s probably going to be taken away at some point.”
Although immigration policies have not been enacted yet, international students still want the message of immigration executive orders to be clear to students.
“I would like them (UK) to address it or at least be very clear on what’s changing,” Frontado said. “I think it would have to be a directed email to the students specifically that would affected . . . not just like a Capilouto email like they always do because Capilouto talks about a lot of things in his emails.”
The concerns for international students remain, even with doubts of future policy enactment.
“I do know students that aren’t citizens and they’re here and I think that’s a legitimate worry,” Frontado said. “I know exchange students and I’m not really worried about them because they’re not here living, they’re just here for the experience. I don’t think they should be affected.”
According to Cornell University’s International Services Office of Global Learning, “A travel ban is likely to go into effect soon after inauguration.” Universities such as Cornell advised their students to travel back to the United States before the inauguration date.
According to Esteban Romero, a Costa Rican international student at UK, he chose to come here for the variety of opportunities, for the “American dream.”
“At least emotionally, I am a little bit worried especially knowing that if some of my family might want to do the same things I’m doing, they really couldn’t. Even if they did it (immigrate) the legal way it might become a little cumbersome,” Romero said.
International students still have options and resources to review when it comes to any future immigration policies. The Lexington area has several immigration resource programs that advocate to help immigrants and refugees in the area, including Kentucky Refugee Ministries and UK’s International Center.
“The best way to anticipate or predict what will happen in the second Trump administration is to look at what happened in the first administration . . . The first Trump administration was an effort to restrict the entry of foreign-born (students and workers),” Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, said during the President’s Alliance post-election brief.
While there remains no certainty behind immigration policies in the U.S., many universities, such as UK, remain to focus on supporting international students, according to the International Center website.
