Professor Chloe East of the University of Colorado, Denver, was quoted as saying, “All international students are worried right now.”

Earlier this month, the Republican President-elect confirmed that he had plans to declare a national emergency on border security and use the US military to carry out a mass deportation of undocumented migrants in America.

As immigration was one of the top issues in the US presidential election campaign, where Trump promised to deport millions and stabilize the Mexico border after a record number of people are believed to have illegally migrated to the States during outgoing President Joe Biden’s administration.

Over 400,000 undocumented students are enrolled in the US higher education, BBC reported citing the Higher Ed Immigration Portal.

Officials from Trump’s incoming administration have indicated that vast holding facilities will be built for undocumented immigrants on the mass deportation list.

The President-elect’s “border czar” Tom Homan had also announced that the Trump administration would focus on increasing workplace raids as part of its immigration enforcement strategy.

Homan also suggested that only foreign nationals with existing deportation orders would be targeted. The “border czar” highlighted that immigrants with such orders “became a fugitive”.

As a result of uncertainty around immigration, students are highly overwhelmed and stressed out right now, Prof East told BBC, adding, “A lot of students have concerns about their visas and whether they’ll be allowed to continue their education.”

US Universities send advisories

Yale University, meanwhile, had its Office of International Students and Scholars host a webinar this month over the concerns of students about the possible changes in the immigration policy.

The University of Massachusetts in November issued a travel advisory to its international students and staff, asking them to “strongly consider” returning to campus from their winter break before Donald Trump takes office on January 20.

“Based on previous experience with travel bans that were enacted in the first Trump Administration in 2016, the Office of Global Affairs is making this advisory out of an abundance of caution,” the college’s notice was cited by BBC.

In his first week in the Oval Office in 2017, Trump signed an executive order barring nationals of several Muslim-majority nations, North Korea, and Venezuela, from visiting America.

Indian students in the US

For the first time since 2009, India has sent more students to the US than any other country, with over 331,600 students undertaking higher education courses in American institutions during 2023-24, a 23 per cent increase from the previous academic year.

According to the Open Doors Report, this number made India the leading country of origin for international students in the US, which is 29 per cent of the total international student population of 1.21 million from over 210 countries during 2023-24.

India continued to be the largest contributor of international graduate (masters and PhD-level) students to the US for the second year.