Hi Peter - why are international students on F-1 visa (not on OPT) being strongly recommended to not travel outside the US now? Is there a possible denial at the port of entry when returning? I for one am a F-1 student looking to travel to an academic conference abroad, but being advised to reconsider and stay back in the US by my DSO. I'm in the middle of my program, and my I-20 and visa are valid for another 3 years.
The concern is that USCIS is cancelling students F-1 status without the student being made aware of this because of some issue (prior arrests or convictions, political statements, etc.) but before you travel internationally, as an F-1 student, you will need to get a new I-20 endorsed for travel and when the school goes through the process of issuing a new I-20, it should see whether there is an issue and if there is no issue, you should be fine to travel.