US: Trump’s revised travel ban threatens to ‘adversely impact’ HE
Published 06/03/2017
President Trump has today signed a new executive order banning citizens of six countries from travelling to the US for 90 days. His secretary of homeland security underlined that those with current authorisation to enter will not be affected, but US HE stakeholders remain concerned about the potential consequences for the sector.
The executive order, which excludes Iraq from the previous executive order‘s list of banned countries, will prevent citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from travelling to the US for the 90 day period.
“The executive order remains overly broad in scope and threatens to adversely impact higher education in America”
The order also suspends the US refugee programme for 120 days. However, unlike the previous iteration of the order, Syrian refugees will not be subject to an indefinite ban.
The executive order will come into effect on March 16.
Notably different from the previous executive order, signed on January 27, the new travel ban outlines that those from the impacted countries holding permanent residency in the US, or dual citizenship, will be able to enter without any problems.
And those who already hold valid visas will be able to enter the country. However, those with visas due to expire will have to reapply.
“Nothing in this executive order affects current lawful permanent residents or persons with current authorisation to enter our country,” Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said in a statement.
“If you have a current valid visa to travel, we welcome you. But unregulated, unvetted travel is not a universal privilege, especially when national security is at stake.”
However, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities said in a statement: “While we understand and respect the president’s stated goal of securing our homeland, we also believe that a categorical ban on the entry of individuals based purely on national origin will undermine the ability of our public institutions to attract the best minds to teach and study at our state colleges and universities.”
While this executive order is “an improvement over the original order banning immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries… [it] remains overly broad in scope and threatens to adversely impact higher education in America”, the statement said.
Meanwhile, the Association for International Education Administrators urged its members to stand in “full solidarity with all those international students and scholars impacted by these new policies”.
“We believe that international educators have a responsibility to reaffirm existing as well as build new alliances and networks beyond higher education to effectively advocate for the international flow of knowledge and people,” the association said in a statement.
“This is a critical moment for international education,” it warned – a theme that featured heavily in its recent annual conference as educators discussed how best to reevaluate global education in the Trump era.
“This is a critical moment for international education”
Although the immigration order is less severe than the one released in January, the order could nevertheless have a significant impact on international students coming into the country, Rahul Choudaha, co-founder of interEDGE — a US-based provider of support services for international students – told The PIE News.
“Given the admissions timelines, the damage has been done,” he said. “It is difficult to go back to fix the perceptions of prospective international students and families who are concerned about safety at the very basic level and a possible increase in discriminatory experiences in the communities.”
Nodding to uncertainty surrounding potential changes to the Optional Training Programs and H-1B visas, Choudaha warned that “the total package [of reforms] could be unnerving for many international students”.
“While undergraduate enrolments are likely to be hurt due to the perception of safety, graduate enrolments could be hurt due to uncertainty with the immigration policies,” he forecasted.
Education institutions have already begun reassuring international students and staff who might be affected by the order.
In a statement on its website, the University of Texas at Austin said its international office “will be reaching out as soon as possible to students and scholars affected by it”.
“International students and scholars are vital to the mission of the university, and we deeply value the opportunity to work with them,” it underlined. “Our [international] office will do everything we can to support affected students and scholars as we work through the implications of the new order.”
More follows…
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