UMass issues holiday travel advisory ahead of Trump inauguration

AMHERST, MA (WGGB/WSHM) – UMass Amherst is out with a new notice for their international students who may be headed home for the holidays and it’s all tied to President-elect Donald Trump getting the keys to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

“It’s insane. It’s crazy to think about,” said UMass Amherst student Ashley Iglesias.

There’s no place like home for the holidays, but UMass Amherst’s Office of Global Affairs is telling anyone headed abroad to see family that they may want to come back before Trump heads back to the White House on January 20, 2025.

“I’m an international student from India and I’ll be heading back to India because my mother is a bit ill,” said UMass Amherst international graduate student Amri Dansh.

Dansh will head home soon. He understands the school’s concerns over previous Trump administration’s travel bans, but he’ll take his chances. “I feel like being a legal immigrant or have a student visa that shouldn’t be a concern for me. There’s a fear that comes with reading the post, but I don’t think it will delay my travel plans,” he added.

There may not be a fear for him, but even international students who staying put are on alert on what another Trump administration could mean for them. They may be banned from going home, but what if they’re sent back too soon to complete their educational dreams? Myanmar native and UMass Amherst graduate student Wangsan Deram is here in the U.S under temporary protective status. “I have a little worry because my country situation. It’s really hard for me to go back to my country, so I’m thinking about staying here for a while, but I’m worried about that,” he said.

Worries may be here for Deram and Dansh had advice for him and other international students on-campus. “Keep on doing the things you’re doing, rather than too much thinking of what’s going to happen in the future because that’s something you can’t control,” Dansh noted.

The university’s full advisory appears below:

The Office of Global Affairs (formerly the International Programs Office) recommends that our UMass Amherst international community– including all international students, scholars, faculty and staff under UMass immigration sponsorship– strongly consider returning to the United States prior to the presidential inauguration day of January 20, 2025 if they are planning on traveling internationally during the winter holiday break. Please note this is not a requirement or mandate from UMass, nor is it based on any current U.S. government policy or recommendation. However, given that a new presidential administration can enact new policies on their first day in office (January 20), and based on previous experience with travel bans that were enacted in the first Trump Administration in 2016, the Office of Global Affairs is making this advisory out of an abundance of caution to hopefully prevent any possible travel disruption to members of our international community. We are not able to speculate on what a travel ban will look like if enacted, nor can we speculate on what particular countries or regions of the world may or may not be affected.

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