Foreign Students Warned To Scrub Social Media Accounts Of Any Trump Criticisms

Foreign students attending American universities are being warned by their colleges to avoid going on any international trips because they may not be able to get back into the country. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Immigration lawyers have been separately advising these students to make sure that they do NOT have anything on any of their social media accounts that could be considered “critical” of the Trump administration if they want to get back in or even stay in the country. These are dark times for foreign-born students, as Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

A terrifying trend is starting to emerge at universities across the United States where administration officials within these universities are having to email foreign students, letting them know several things. But most importantly, if you're planning on leaving the country for, you know, go back home to visit your family, maybe work a summer job, but you're in the Uni United States on a student visa, um, don't leave because if you leave, there's a good chance you won't ever get back into this country. Now, brown University, couple weeks ago, right before spring break, they sent out a mass email to all people on student visas, letting them know potential changes in travel restrictions in travel bans, visa procedures, and processing reentry requirements and other travel related delays may affect travelers' ability to return to the US as planned. It is unclear whether there may be implications also for domestic travel within the United States as the federal policy landscape continues to evolve.

In other words, this administration is effing crazy. Please protect yourselves as if that weren't bad enough. Temple University had to send an email out to their students that are here on student visas. This was actually pointed out to me by a colleague of mine, and the email from Temple says this. We are writing to suggest that international students and scholars currently in the United States consider postponing any international travel plans until more information is available from the White House and or the US Department of State. Given the current uncertainties, this suggestion is especially relevant for international students and scholars who would need to apply for and secure new visas before coming back to the US International students and scholars for whom international travel is essential should consider speaking with qualified immigration attorneys before engaging in any travel.

What a horrible situation for these students who came to the United States to learn, right? They're paying tuition at these colleges, they're contributing to the local economy. They're good, honest, hardworking people. And these universities are now so worried about their own students that they're having to warn them, listen, don't leave the country. They're, they're probably not gonna let you back in. And if you absolutely have to leave the country, here is a list of lawyers. And by the way, yes, temple did send out a list of lawyers who will work pro bono, uh, in order to make sure these students are protected if they have to leave the country. How sick is this? I mean, it's not sick that the universities did this. I'm, I'm applaud them and I'm proud of them for doing this. It's sick that they had to do this just to protect these students.

Now, the colleague that I mentioned who alerted me to this email was alerted to it herself by a friend of hers, happens to be a, a 19-year-old, I believe that is going to Temple University. And my colleague was able to hook that individual up, not with one of those pro bono lawyers, but with a really, you know, great immigration lawyer that she knows. So this immigration lawyer advised the student to make sure that there's nothing on her social media, any social media account critical of Donald Trump. That was one of the first questions asked, have you posted anything about Trump on social media?