Duke warns international students not to leave US, citing Trump actions

Brian Gordon, The News & Observer on Apr 21, 2025

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DURHAM, N.C. — Weeks ahead of summer break, Duke University has warned international students — including green card holders — not to leave the United States, citing potential travel bans and immigration restrictions by the new Trump administration.

“Due to the increased risks involved in re-entering into the United States, we are advising members of the Duke international community to avoid international travel unless essential,” the university’s visa office wrote in an April 18 guidance message.

In its recommendation, Duke Visa Services referenced a report last month that the Trump administration was considering a travel ban encompassing 43 countries. While no restriction has come, Duke cautioned one “could be released at any time — potentially with immediate effect.”

Duke also said U.S. immigration personnel have elevated screening procedures, including asking extra questions and searching electronic devices. Such steps have impeded typical reentries, according to Rishi Oza, an attorney at Brown Immigration Law in Durham.

“We’re seeing an uptick in the number of people that are just having basic problems coming in and out of the country,” he told The News & Observer. “There certainly is kind of a heightened enforcement environment with respect to students.”

More than 200 international students from 86 countries were part of Duke’s most recent first-year undergraduate class. The university’s international community swells at the graduate level, where Duke each year counts more than 3,000 new and continuing students from outside the United States.

‘We recognize this message is going to lead to questions’

On Jan. 20, newly inaugurated President Donald Trump signed an executive action calling for “enhanced vetting” to ensure legal U.S. visa-holders “do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles.”

That same day, Duke released a statement encouraging international students to consider their travel plans under the new administration. Three months later, the university on Friday updated its guidance with a more direct recommendation that extended not only to nonimmigrant visa holders, but also permanent residents with green cards.

“We recognize this message is going to lead to questions,” Duke Visa Services stated. The university asked students, faculty, and staff to submit anonymous questions and said international undergraduate students would be informed of campus housing options for the summer.

Duke officials earlier this month sent an email to the university’s international students announcing the visas of two students and an alumnus had been terminated, the Duke Chronicle reported. This came amid nationwide student visa revocations, which affected at least six international students at UNC-Chapel Hill and two at NC State University.

“We are deeply concerned about the lack of communication from federal agencies and the impact of these actions on our international students,” NC State said in an April 1 statement.

UNC-Chapel Hill’s International Student and Scholar Services has posted online announcements related to Trump administration visa policies, including an April 10 notice that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would start “screening aliens’ social media activity for antisemitism.”

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