International students are shaken as Trump announces travel ban

A sweeping travel ban proclamation released June 4 by the Trump administration may prevent three University of Richmond admitted students from entering the United States, according to a statement released by the University of Richmond administration, but no current students are impacted — for now.

The move is part of an aggressive crackdown on immigration by the Trump administration.

On May 28, Secretary of State Marco Rubio released a statement saying that the U.S. State Department will “aggressively revoke” the student visas of Chinese students. The statement said it would focus on those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or study in “critical fields”.

On June 4, the Trump administration announced that nationals from the following 12 countries are banned from entering the United States: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. 

An additional seven countries face partial bans.

According to the proclamation, the ban is meant to protect the nation from foreign terrorists and other national security threats. The proclamation also outlined that the listed countries exhibit high visa overstay rates, have poor vetting procedures and have not accepted back removable nationals.

Professor of Immigration law at Cornell University, Stephen Yale-Loehr, said that while the expansion is legal, it may not be beneficial.

“Even if this expansion is legal, it is not good policy,” he said in a statement to Cornell University's media relations office. “The travel ban affects not only foreigners but U.S. citizens. Families will be separated because of this travel ban. We are not necessarily safer by banning immigrants from these countries.”

Although the recent restrictions add further uncertainty to the lives of UR international students, the fear of visa revocations is not new.

As the spring semester ended, the Trump administration revoked visas of more than 20 international undergraduate and graduate students at Virginia universities, including George Mason University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth University.

“I come from a lot of authoritarian countries,” said one international student. “I’ve lived in authoritarian countries all my life and I’ve never felt like I would have to feel this way.”

The student said anonymity is important for their safety. At the same time, they said they regret that it is necessary — especially in a country that is supposed to offer freedom of speech.

“I’ve even had to police what I say, what I think and what I write,” the student said. “I guess that’s like the only thing I hoped for in the [United] States.”

Months ago, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts international student from Turkey, for alleged pro-Hamas activity. Her arrest is potentially linked to an op-ed she wrote in Tufts’ student newspaper criticizing violence against Palestinian civilians.

The Washington Post uncovered a State Department memo stating that no evidence was found of Ozturk engaging with pro-Hamas or antisemitic groups. Regardless, she remained in a Louisiana detention center for six weeks until being released and allowed to return to Boston.

As fear of deportation looms, international students, their friends and their families look to the international office for answers — but its power is limited.

“Even though [the international office] has relayed the best information that they could, the anxiety cannot be relieved,” the international student said. “At the end of the day, they do not have much power to change policy.”

“We continue to support international students who are worried about new restrictions — and now a specific mention of Chinese student visas — by meeting with students individually,” said Diana Trinh, international student advisor at the University of Richmond. “We know that this uncertainty is very stressful and want students to be aware of our constant monitoring and ready partnership.”

In an email obtained by The Collegian, UR’s Office of International Student and Scholar Services informed international students that exiting the country risks not being allowed back in. This impacts students’ ability to travel home or accept internships abroad.

“Please note that IE cannot advise on individual travel matters, as admittance to the U.S. is decided entirely by U.S. Customs and Border Protection,” the email reads.

“A friend of mine from an African country — they had a death in the family,” the student said. “They could not leave the country. That is how heightened it is.”

UR is not the only college that has been left in the dark when it comes to deportations of its students. A statement from the president of Virginia Tech, released in the student publication VT News, revealed that the federal government is detaining students without notifying staff.

“We do not know why the terminations occurred and are seeking additional information from the State Department and Department of Homeland Security,” said Virginia Tech President Tim Sands.

As of now, ICE has not detained any UR students. The UR administration has conveyed limited information to the general student body in preparation.

“If you are approached by external law enforcement on campus, contact URPD at 804-289-8911,” said senior director of media relations Sunni Brown in an email to The Collegian. “URPD serves as the liaison to all external law enforcement agencies.”

Contact city and state editor Maria Byrnes at maria.byrnes@richmond.edu