With the Trump administration’s proposed travel bans tied up in courts, many MSU students are in limbo. Some would have returned to their home countries for the summer. But instead, they’re staying in Michigan. WKAR’s Katie Cook explains.
More than 7,000 international students are enrolled at MSU. 125 of them are from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Earlier this year, travelers from those countries were detained at U.S. airports or sent back, until the courts put a hold on the travel bans.
The director of MSU’s Office for International Students and Scholars James Dorsett says many of them are staying here this summer, in case the courts agree with the president. They’re afraid that if they go home, they won’t be allowed to come back.
“And also just having this kind of mental weight on people’s minds, knowing that this is potentially something that could happen to them, something that they have to worry about, and how it will affect their ability to complete their work in the US or their degree program here” he says.
Dorsett says their office works closely with students to connect them to counselors and immigration attorneys, and will help them navigate finishing their degrees if they are unable to get back into the country.