Undocumented and international students worry about their fate in second Trump term

Ana, a University of Minnesota student who is undocumented, said it’s hard to talk about her anxiety as President-elect Donald Trump returns to office next week. She’s afraid of losing everything she’s achieved in the U.S.

“Personally, I feel very scared about this new president,” said Ana, who only agreed to be interviewed using her nickname due to safety concerns. “We don’t know what will happen with us, especially all the undocumented students that don’t have any protections.”

Across Minnesota and the nation, some international and undocumented college students are worried about what the second Trump administration will bring — from affecting their ability to travel to their home countries to changing immigration policy and following through on threats of mass deportations. Some U.S. universities even warned international students to return to campus in January before Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

Some of the fear international and undocumented students have relates to the unknown, students and university officials said. But other concerns stem from specific, sometimes contradictory comments Trump has made publicly about topics like visas and immigration. Many people also mentioned certain policies and proposals — like the ban on travel and refugee resettlement from some Muslim countries — during his previous term.

“We’ve heard a lot of things from the incoming administration about how they’re going to handle undocumented students and international students more broadly ... though we don’t know what to expect,” said Todd Wolfson, a professor at Rutgers University and president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). “We think it’s very important to hold the sanctity of our campuses and to protect students no matter what.”

In 2023-2024, the number of international students in the U.S. climbed 7% to a record high of 1.1 million students, according to the International Educational Exchange’s Open Doors report. About 15,000 international students, a 5% increase, studied in Minnesota during the last academic year.

It’s hard to estimate the number of undocumented students because colleges don’t maintain lists, but the Office of Higher Education said 506 undocumented students received the Minnesota State Grant in 2024 after filling out the Minnesota Dream Act application.

Amid the apprehension, some students said they remained optimistic due to other Trump statements that indicate possible support for international students. For instance, a recent debate over visas for skilled foreign workers ended with Trump saying he favored them after previously saying they were unfair to U.S. employees.

That exchange “gave us a little bit of hope,” said Nancy Basnet, a Nepali student getting her doctorate at St. Cloud State University.

In New Jersey, Wolfson said that Rutgers University faculty weren’t “sitting still,” but were researching and preparing to take action to help both undocumented and international students.

A faculty union has set up an international worker committee to support students, answer questions and provide legal support, Wolfson said, while another community group will focus on how to help undocumented students if Trump begins instituting immigration raids. Trump has said he will organize the largest mass deportation in the nation’s history.

Few Minnesota schools responded to questions from the Minnesota Star Tribune about this issue. But Juventino Meza, a local civil rights lawyer and community leader, said he’s provided trainings to 14 Minnesota colleges in the last four months on how to talk with students and high school counselors about financial aid for undocumented students and ensure they’re protecting students’ data privacy.

Many undocumented college students are anxious about what will happen to certain policies and programs under Trump, especially Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a federal policy that protects some undocumented people from being deported and allows them to work temporarily for two-year periods, Meza said. Trump tried to end the program during his first term but the U.S. Supreme Court blocked him.

Students are also concerned that information they provide on DACA forms might be used by the government to track down undocumented family members, he said. Meza worries that, in an attempt to protect students and their data, high school counselors will tell students not to apply for the Minnesota Dream Act, which provides in-state tuition rates and state financial aid to qualifying students. He said there are actually “really strong privacy protections” in place at state and federal levels.

He’s also heard some college administrators fear that fewer undocumented students will enroll in college in the coming years because they’re afraid or don’t feel safe.

Vivian Sieger, youth programs coordinator for the local nonprofit, Communities Organizing Latine Power and Action (COPAL), said there’s definitely “a lot of fear happening right now.”

“It’s kind of impossible to ignore the rise in hatred against immigrant communities and I think that really translates to students not feeling safe,” she said. “We’re very much on the defensive — preparing for the worst, hoping for the best.”

Students with one undocumented parent and one parent who is a legal resident are nervous about filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), she said, because they worry that information about their undocumented parent might be shared with other agencies. Undocumented students and international students both ultimately fear being forced to leave the country when Trump takes office Monday, she said.

During part of Trump’s last term, enrollment of new international students declined by almost 12% from fall 2016 through fall 2019, according to Open Doors data.

In Minnesota, international students’ numbers declined dramatically — by 21% — at Minnesota State institutions from fiscal year 2017 to 2021, but those years also overlap with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

International students have a large economic impact on Minnesota and the nation, said Rachel Banks, senior director for public policy and legislative policy at the National Association of International Educators, and make big contributions to U.S. university classrooms.

“It’s so valuable for American students to have that exposure to different cultures and perspectives,” she said.

She noted Trump’s recent support for some visas for skilled workers and his administration suggesting all foreign graduates of U.S. universities should get a green card.

In St. Paul this year, Macalester College, a private college known for its international student body, welcomed 321 undergraduate international students, a record number, said Kathryn Kay Coquemont, its vice president for student affairs.

The school sends emails at least every week to international students with reminders about everything from domestic travel to taxes, she said, adding that people don’t realize that being an international student is already complicated. She said administrators remain concerned about rising xenophobia or Islamophobia affecting students.

“We know that aside from any immediate changes, whether it’s in politics or culture things, there’s kind of this ongoing pressure put on those students,” Coquemont said.

International students “are sort of in this political football,” said Basnet, the St. Cloud State student, but shouldn’t be, because they bring “so much value” to the U.S. She knows several students who have canceled trips home recently for fear that complications might arise when they try to return. Others haven’t been home for five or six years.

“On top of your head there’s this sword hanging, like, would I be able to come back to the country or not?” Basnet said, adding that the apprehension is worse for students from Muslim countries.

If there are immigration raids, she said she worries that federal officials won’t differentiate between undocumented people and international students. She plans to keep a photo of her I-20 form, an important document for international students, on her phone just in case.

“It’s good to be prepared,” she said. “There’s hope but there’s also the fear and the nervousness that comes with political change.”