College campuses scramble to protect foreign and undocumented students under Trump

Hilary Burns, Boston Globe, Nov. 26, 2024

"...Most colleges across the nation are gearing up to protect foreign-born students and faculty members who could be vulnerable when President-elect Donald Trump takes office, including those involved in pro-Palestinian protests, and undocumented immigrants. Colleges don’t know quite what to expect at this point, but campaign promises and policy discussions, including Project 2025, present possible threats to scores of students and faculty members. Trump could reinstate travel bans for certain countries, restrict or delay visas, deny federal funding to colleges that offer financial aid to undocumented students, and even call for deporting undocumented students. “There is a lot of fear and anxiety,” said Rebecca Hamlin, professor of legal studies and political science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Some campus leaders and immigration advocates are advising foreign students and professors to return to campus from winter break before Trump takes office, carry copies of immigration documents in case they are stopped by law enforcement, and invest in travel insurance if traveling abroad…. … Most colleges are working “more behind the scenes than in 2017 because they fear that the new administration may put a target on their backs if they do so publicly,” said Stephen Yale-Loehr, professor of immigration law practice at Cornell Law School in New York…."