ACE and 32 other higher education associations submitted an amicus brief today
to the U.S. Supreme Court in a case examining President Trump's third
attempt to ban refugees and immigrants from several majority-Muslim
countries.
The administration issued its first travel
ban in January 2017, the week after the president’s inauguration,
causing mass chaos in airports across the country and launching more
than a year of legal back and forth over the issue.
The Supreme Court planned to hear the second
iteration of the travel ban in October 2017, but dropped its review
after the administration issued travel ban 3.0 Sept. 24, 2017, by
Presidential Proclamation 9645 (Enhancing Vetting Capabilities and
Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry into the United States by
Terrorists or other Public-Safety Threats). The high court agreed
in January to take up the new and current ban, which places restrictions
of varying degrees on entry to the United States from Iran, Libya,
Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad, North Korea, and Venezuela.
Although multiple courts have issued
preliminary injunctions against travel ban 3.0, it is currently in full
force and effect because the Supreme Court granted the government’s
request for emergency stays of lower court injunctions pending further
review.
While recognizing the importance of a strong
visa process to the nation’s security, the associations’ brief
underscores that “[t]he Proclamation sends a clarion message of
exclusion to millions around the globe that America’s doors are no
longer open to foreign students, scholars, lecturers, and researchers.”
It emphasizes the essentiality of the United States’ “deep commitment to
ensuring the free flow of ideas and people that is critical to progress
in a democratic society.” The brief focuses on the importance to U.S.
higher education and the country as a whole of maintaining a welcoming
perception for international students and scholars, and the risks of
deterring them from studying, teaching, and researching in the United
States.
The roughly one million international
students that attend U.S. colleges and universities add to this
country’s intellectual and cultural vibrancy, and they also yield an
estimated economic impact of $36.9 billion and support 450,000 U.S.
jobs, according to a recent report from NAFSA: Association of
International Educators.
As the associations note in their brief, the
current travel ban triples down on the exclusionary message of travel
bans one and two, and puts at risk the considerable benefits the country
gains from international students, scholars, lecturers, and
researchers. If not reversed, the ban promises to have detrimental
effects on critical academic exchange by inhibiting the free
cross-border exchange of ideas; dividing students and scholars from
their families; and impairing the ability of American educational
institutions to draw the finest international talent.
The Supreme Court will hear the case, Trump v. Hawaii, on April 25, the last oral argument day of the term.