US universities call foreign students back

The measure is a hedge against a potential visa ban when Donald Trump takes charge in January

- Lalit K Jha

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, and several other higher education institutions in the United States have advised their international students and employees to return from winter break before January 20, the day Donald Trump swears in as the 47th President of the United States.

The advisory comes in the wake of the talk about mass deportation of illegal immigrants in the US by the incoming administration. There are estimated to be more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the country. A recent Open Doors 2024 Report on International Educational Exchange said that there are 1.1 million international students in the US. India accounts for the largest number of them with 330,000.

The Higher Ed Immigration Portal estimates that more than 400,000 undocumented students are at present enrolled in US higher education. Those with a valid F-Visa, which is the case with over 330,000 international students from India, are unlikely to be impacted by any visa ban by the incoming Trump Administration.