UK universities are expressing concern over the possibility that Donald Trump, upon returning to the White House, may expand travel bans that previously affected international students and academics. During his first term, Trump imposed restrictions on citizens from several predominantly Muslim countries, including Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, leading to over 40,000 visa denials.
More than a dozen US universities, including Harvard, Brown, MIT and Cornell, have already issued advisories to international students, urging them to return to campus before the inauguration on 20 January. Cornell warned that a ban involving 13 nations previously targeted “is likely to go into effect soon after inauguration”, and that new countries, particularly China and India, could be added. It advised students from those countries to return before the semester starts on 21 January.
Other institutions, such as the University of Southern California and Wesleyan University, have advised students to plan ahead and be physically present in the US before the spring semester to avoid potential travel disruptions. Wesleyan specifically recommended returning by 19 January, the day before the inauguration.
The UK, which hosts a large number of international students, is monitoring the situation closely. Over 1.1 million international students studied in the US during the 2023/2024 academic year, with students from India and China accounting for more than half. UK universities fear that expanded travel restrictions could deter students from these key markets, impacting academic exchanges and revenue.
Jacky Li, a Chinese student at the University of California, Berkeley, expressed growing worry among international students. “There’s a fear that this kind of restriction will enlarge into a wider community, considering the geopolitical tensions nowadays around the world,” he said. “If the US is really a champion of academic freedom, what you should do is not restrict this kind of communications between different countries of the world.”
