{"id":175158,"date":"2025-01-23T14:21:39","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T13:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=175158"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:40","slug":"us-universities-face-up-to-trumps-deportation-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2025\/01\/23\/us-universities-face-up-to-trumps-deportation-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"US universities face up to Trump\u2019s deportation plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Universities across the United States are bracing themselves as Donald Trump begins his second term as president. Some universities are already saying they have no intention of cooperating with the mass deportations he has announced.<\/p>\n

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Donald Trump in 2024.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGage Skidmore<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Higher education and research barely featured in the inaugural speech<\/a> President Trump gave on Monday. He said nothing about academic freedom or the high level of student debt, and made no reference to anti-Israel demonstrations on campuses.<\/p>\n

Ashamed<\/h2>

However, he did denounce an education system \u201cthat teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves \u2013 in many cases to hate our country\u201d. He appeared to be referring to classes that deal with racism and the history of slavery, which many conservative Americans object to, and possibly to sex education in schools.<\/p>\n

He vowed to end positive discrimination for disadvantaged groups and to scrap government policies that \u2013 in his view \u2013 seek to bring race and gender into all aspects of public and private life. \u201cWe will forge a society that is colourblind and merit-based.\u201d<\/p>\n

In that light, he referred to the dream of Martin Luther King, whose campaign for civil rights and racial equality cost him his life. \u201cWe will make his dream come true\u201d, Trump insisted.<\/p>\n

Deportations<\/h2>

Meanwhile he pledged to start deporting immigrants on a large scale. He announced plans to send \u201cmillions and millions of criminal aliens\u201d back where they came from and to eliminate \u201cforeign gangs and criminal networks\u201d.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s stance on deportation is bad news for the approximately 408,000<\/a> undocumented students in the US, almost half of whom are from a Hispanic background. Compounded by the new president\u2019s hardline rhetoric about Mexican immigrants, it suggests that their future education is far from certain. Their mere presence in the country could soon be classified as criminal.<\/p>\n

Undocumented students have spoken out about their concerns<\/a> on InsideHigherEd.com and other platforms. For many, the fear of being thrown out of the country goes back to childhood. Similar fears<\/a> are expressed in a number of articles. The protection offered to undocumented immigrants who grew up in the US by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme (DACA) may well be in jeopardy under the new Republican regime.<\/p>\n

Over the Christmas holidays, some higher education institutions explicitly warned<\/a> their international students and staff to make sure they were back in the US before Trump took office. The warning was prompted by fears that they could face problems at the border.<\/p>\n

Victory<\/h2>

Following his election victory, Trump can count on the support of a large section of the population. Calls for students to be deported are particularly prevalent when anti-Israel protests are held on campuses. A range of commentators<\/a> have voiced the opinion<\/a> that protesters with Hamas sympathies should face deportation. Trump has also made comments<\/a> along these lines.<\/p>\n

In the new political climate, higher education institutions are bracing themselves for potential problems. Some are already saying<\/a> they have no desire to cooperate with moves to deport their own students and intend to hold back any information on their residency status.<\/p>\n

However, they will have no choice but to abide by the law. An advocacy organisation has published a guide<\/a> outlining how institutions can support students who do not have US citizenship.<\/p>\n

Exactly how these issues will play out remains to be seen. Trump has plans to seriously downsize the Department of Education and even get rid of it altogether. This task falls to his new Secretary of Education Linda McMahon<\/a>, a business executive with a background in professional wrestling<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\t

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