In response to President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration, College President Phil Hanlon advised students affected by the seven-nation ban to avoid all international travel. In a campus-wide email co-signed by Provost Carolyn Dever on Sunday afternoon, Hanlon also expressed support for a statement released by the Association of American Universities calling for the order’s repeal.
Trump’s executive order blocked citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — from entering the U.S. for 90 days. The order also barred all refugee admissions for 120 days and indefinitely prohibited the entry of Syrian refugees. The order, titled “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” was signed on Friday. Students, visitors and green card holders from the seven listed nations were immediately stopped at airports in the U.S. and abroad. A federal judge in New York temporarily suspended parts of Trump’s order on Saturday, and the White House announced Sunday that green card holders from the seven countries would not be blocked from returning to the U.S.
The statement issued by the AAU on Saturday said the order is stranding students attempting to return to the U.S. to study and “threatens to disrupt the education and research of many others.” The AAU urged Trump to end the ban “as quickly as possible.”
In his email, Hanlon wrote that the College’s Office of Visa and Immigration Services is working closely with those affected and “strongly recommends” affected individuals avoid all international travel. Hanlon said the College will continue to provide information and support and recognized the “essential contributions” of the College’s international students and community members.
This article will be updated as more information is reported.
