Before winter break, many prominant universities, including Harvard, Cornell, USC, and Brown, urged international students to return to campus before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Some advisories also shared up-to-date immigration guidance in advance of possible travel restrictions under Trump’s administration, while others stressed that the warnings were ”precautionary.”
The University has issued no such direct warning.
Albert Rivera, Director of the Davis International Center (Davis IC), wrote in an email to international students and scholars on Nov. 24, 2024 that “at this point, we do not know how a change in administration will affect specific immigration policies or visa processing.”
Within a week of Trump’s inauguration in 2017, nationals of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen were barred from entering the United States for 90 days. However, this ban did not extend to valid F, J, or M visas, which international students typically receive. According to the Office of Institutional Research, Princeton had two undergraduates from Syria and none from the other countries in the 2023–24 school year, though 15 graduate students were from Iran and one graduate student was from Sudan.
In a statement to The Daily Princetonian, Kaustubh Jain ’26 explained that as an Indian citizen, “[he] is not too worried about a travel ban,” particularly because student visas were not previously targeted. His plans to return to campus on Jan. 25 did not change following the election.
Shabab Tashrif Zaman ’26, a citizen of Bangladesh, echoed this sentiment. He told the ‘Prince’ that he bought his plane tickets in December and “didn’t consider changing the flight as this can cost extra.”
Zaman added that he doubts that Trump’s presidency will significantly affect international members of campus. “I think as Princeton students, we will continue receiving the same level of respect and appreciation as we used to,” he explained.
For students with concerns, the Davis IC hosted a series of virtual Q&A sessions with an immigration attorney before winter recess. Hellen Ding ’27 attended one of these meetings. When she asked specifically about returning before the inauguration, the attorney said that this would “make sense,” she recalled, but that he did not give specific travel recommendations.
Ding then met with a Davis IC advisor following the Q&A session. According to her, the advisor said that “as a New Zealand citizen, [Ding] should be okay.”
Ding is a member of the ‘Prince’ Business Team.
In an exchange on Dec. 5, 2024 in the Davis IC student leader group chat obtained by the ‘Prince,’ a student asked if the Davis IC would advise students to return before Trump’s inauguration. In response, Assistant Director for International Programs Mariyah Salem wrote that “at this point there is only speculation on what can happen” regarding any changes to international student policy.
She added that citizens of specific countries may wish to seek individual advice from an advisor, noting that these students “generally would have had travel concerns in the past but could find additional barriers” following the inauguration. Salem noted that the Davis IC “staff is on high alert” and would inform students if new information emerges.
University Spokesperson Jennifer Morrill wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince’ that the University continued "to provide one-on-one advising to help members of the international community make informed decisions about travel based on their specific circumstances.”
Maya Mukherjee is a contributing News writer and the head Podcast editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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