USA US universities recommend foreigners return before Trump's inauguration

According to a report in the New York Times, US universities are advising foreign students to return to the USA from their winter break before Donald Trump's inauguration. Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on January 20.

During his first term in office, he had already drastically tightened entry regulations for people from several predominantly Muslim countries.

Thousands of foreigners enrolled at US universities were thus prevented from returning to their place of study when they wanted to re-enter the country after spending the winter vacations in their home country.

Several universities see the danger of this happening again. "It is likely that an entry ban will come into effect soon after the inauguration," the Cornell College website reported in November, according to the New York Times.

The university in the state of Iowa had advised its foreign students to return before the start of classes on January 21.

Play it safe and allow time

The elite Harvard University advised its foreign students to check their passports and visas thoroughly for validity and to allow for delays and waiting times for new applications and entry.

Those concerned that the political situation could hinder the start of the semester should plan extra time and return before the Martin Luther King holiday on January 20, the university's international office advised.

Other universities in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania also issued advisories - for the time being only as a precautionary measure, after all, politics under a new President Trump is still uncertain.

However, the 78-year-old has already expressed his intention to reinstate the entry restrictions as soon as he is once again head of the White House.

Just one week after taking office in January 2017, Trump imposed far-reaching entry bans on people from Muslim-majority countries such as Iran, Chad, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

Trump's successor Joe Biden lifted the restrictions in 2021.