International students at Adelphi University, NYIT advised to return to U.S. before Donald Trump's inauguration

At least two higher education institutions on Long Island have advised their international students to return before Inauguration Day, amid fears of a potential travel ban similar to the one issued after President-elect Donald Trump took office for his first term.

Adelphi University, in Garden City, has said it “strongly” recommends international students return to the United States no later than Jan. 20 — the day Trump will be sworn in for a second term. Adelphi’s first day of classes is Jan. 23.

“This recommendation is made out of an abundance of caution, particularly given possible uncertainties related to travel policies or administrative changes in the new year that may affect re-entry procedures,” Wendy Badala, executive director of the university's international services, wrote in a message to students last week. 

This fall, Adelphi had about 600 international students.

New York Institute of Technology, which has a campus in Old Westbury, last week also recommended its international students arrive before Jan. 20. 

Spokeswoman Elizabeth Sullivan emphasized that the timing coincides with the start of spring semester classes, which begin Jan. 21. But she said some students had expressed concerns about re-entering the country.

“To ease those concerns we suggested they return prior to the inauguration, which coincides with the start of the semester,” she wrote in an email.

David Cohen, president of Five Towns College in Dix Hills, said his college has not made such a recommendation to students.

The college's semester begins on Jan. 13, so students would be back before the inauguration. Even if that were not the case, Cohen said he doesn’t anticipate the new Trump administration will interfere with the return of international students with valid visas. His college has about two dozen international students.

“We try not to inflame the political situation,” he said. “There's nothing that we have heard that would make us believe that lawful immigration, including student movement around the globe to the United States, is going to be impacted at all.”

In 2017, days after his first inauguration, Trump issued an executive order temporarily suspending the entry of citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries. The ban was later revised and the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 upheld its latest version in a ruling that said the president was within his authority to impose entry restrictions in the interest of national security.

In anticipation of a similar ban possibly taking effect after Trump's inauguration in January, Cornell University in upstate Ithaca advised students from countries that could be impacted to come back to the United States before the semester begins on Jan. 21 as “the immigration landscape is likely to change under the new presidential administration.” Other institutions, including Harvard University, University of Massachusetts Amherst and Wesleyan University, issued similar guidance, according to media reports and advisories posted on their websites.

A SUNY spokesman said in an email that it’s leaving the decision to individual campuses whether to issue guidance to international students on overseas travel during winter break.

Stony Brook University, which according to its website is home to more than 3,800 international students from more than 100 countries, advised students to return at least a week before classes begin on Jan. 27 to accommodate potential travel delays. University officials said the advice was not “based on any current government policy or recommendation.”

Farmingdale State College, Nassau Community College, Long Island University and St. Joseph’s University, New York, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Molloy University begins its classes on Jan. 13. Representatives for Hofstra University and Suffolk County Community College said this week they are not issuing a travel advisory related to the inauguration “at this time.” SUNY Old Westbury issued its customary guidance — reminding students to arrive about a week before classes start in the event of “travel delays or disruptions due to weather or otherwise" — but it was not linked to the inauguration.

During the initial days of the 2017 travel ban, there was confusion over how it would affect those with dual citizenship, permanent residency and visas. There were reports of students stranded at airports. Two faculty members at UMass Dartmouth, both permanent residents, were detained at a Boston airport for hours.

Badala said Adelphi students who would have been affected by the initial ban were already on campus when it was enacted, but the policy change nevertheless took them through an “emotional roller coaster.”

“Their friends were affected; their families were affected,” she said in an interview. “They were lucky that they happened to physically be here. But to know that they didn't have the autonomy to travel when they needed to … It was really hard for students.”

By Dandan Zou

dandan.zou@newsday.com@DandanZou

Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.