Muslim Ban and Visas for Researchers

Given the Trump Administration’s Executive Order that aims to revoke visas to nationals from seven Muslim-majority nations, what is your professional society doing to further support conference travel to the USA?

This post shares a personal example, before providing background context about the Executive Order, how scientists have responded, and what research organisations may need to consider in terms of academic conferences.

The ‘Muslim Ban’

Whilst campaigning for the Presidency, Donald Trump had promised various policy changes pandering to xenophobia, including a  “Muslim register” as well as travel restrictions under the guise of national security. By the 27 January 2017, just one week after taking office, President Trump delivered on his much-publicised promise to target Muslim Americans. He signed his Executive Order to place a 90-day block on nationals from seven Muslim-majority nations: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Massive deportations occurred immediately and “the Muslim ban” created massive chaos. Sixty thousand visas were revoked immediately that weekend. It cannot be underestimated the massive impact on Muslims and their families who were kept from entering the USA, some of whom were locked in detention facilities. At least one woman died after being denied entry back into the USA.

Social protests followed immediately, along with demonstrable action by lawyers volunteering on the ground to bring back those who were stranded overseas and deported. A groundbreaking lawsuit against President Trump was set in motion.

Academics were among those affected, including data scientist Nazanin Zinouri. Millions of academics around the world had already joined related protests against Trump. Beyond, many academics took a public stance against the Muslim ban’s impact on academic science. They shared the personal and political impact on their professional careers. This especially affects scientists born in Iran. Esteemed colleagues spoke out about the moral duty of scientists to take action against the USA Government. To date, over 42,000 American academics have signed the petition against the immigration restriction, including 30,000 faculty in the USA, 62 Nobel Laureates, 105 prestigious Prize awardees, and 813 Members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Arts. Over 150 American scientific organisations have signed an open letter to Trump opposing his Executive Order. Scientists offered desk space, accommodation and support to other researchers via the Science Solidarity List. The Muslim ban is one of many reasons why scientists from underrepresented backgrounds, including me, continue to advocate that the global March for Science should take a stronger stance on diversity issues.

A stay on the ban  has been in effect since 28 January, implemented by U.S. District Judge Ann M. Donnelly. The stay was sustained by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals until Judge Donnelly can fully investigate the case. Subsequently President Trump has infamously rallied against the judicial system. His sustained investment in circumventing established democratic processes leaves Muslims in a precarious position, not only in the USA, but in other nations, including Australia.

Islamophobia has been ongoing in Australia for many decades. The Muslim ban is an extension of long-held prejudices that impact the daily lives of Muslim-Australians, the USA, and elsewhere. Our own policies are no better. Mandatory offshore detention of refugees exclusively targets Muslims and has been our official national policy since 2001. We are set to enforce a permanent ban on boat arrivals unless we do something about it. Still, Australians are invested in protesting the Muslim ban, with both Australian-Muslim organisations and a public petition issuing pleas to our leaders to formally oppose President Trump’s ban.

Visa processing delays

The United Nations sees religious freedom as a basic human right. Moreover, Australians (that is, dual nationals) are supposed to be exempt from the ban.

Regardless the stay means the ban should not be enforced. That did not stop a young Australian-Iranian boy from being denied entry to the USA to attend space camp in the early confusion of the ban. It also hasn’t stopped a Canada-born Muslim youth being turned away at the border just yesterday under unclear circumstances. He was travelling with his teammates for a university sports tournament.

I was impacted by the ban, but in a minor way in comparison to Muslim colleagues.

This is my story as a non-Muslim Australian. I’m sharing it as a minor example of the confusion and possible ramifications of the “Muslim ban” on academics. The broader context is much more perilous for Muslims who have a concrete fear for their future under President Trump.

I was invited to speak at a conference in honour of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The event, Gender, Science and Sustainable Development: The Impact of Media – From Vision to Action, was held on February 10th, 2017 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, USA. I was invited to discuss my public writing on women in science.

In preparation for this travel, I applied for the visa waiver program in January, as is my right as an Australian citizen (I do not have dual citizenship). This program should provide automatic approval for people holding an electronic Australian passport. I received an automatic message when I applied that I was not auto approved but that I’d hear an outcome within 72 hours, as is the maximum waiting period for this service. The time came and went and there was no response. I have not been denied a visa, I have simply not been granted one and not given a reason.

After a few enquiries, I received a message saying it would be at least three months before I would get a decision on my application. I called the the USA visa office in Australia. I was told to contact the USA Homeland Security and given a USA phone number. By then, the Trump administration’s Executive Order was in full effect.

As academic friends have pointed out, President Trump has disbanded key roles that may be affecting how administrative offices are being managed and resourced, perhaps including those overseeing visa processing.

The Trump government is currently conducting an unprecedented campaign to deport undocumented migrants that goes beyond the Obama Administration’s callous tactics. Perhaps this also impacts processing of short-term visa applications.

[Update: a few days after going public with this story, which especially received a lot of attention on Twitter and Google+, I received an email saying that my visa waiver was approved. It came one month after I’d initially applied, and too late to attend the United Nations conference.]

How might the ban affect other scholars, and what can professional associations do to intervene?

What are sociological associations doing?

The ‘Muslim ban’ presents sustained challenges. Organisations must be proactive. Academic conferences are one of the primary activities of professional organisations. I have previously discussed the importance of academic conferences to early career researchers. Educators have an ethical imperative to take visible action on the Muslim ban, which creates additional stress and hostility especially for students. What is happening in my discipline to prevent visa hold ups for researchers?

The President of the International Sociological Association (ISA), Professor Margaret Abraham, has issued a strong statement against Trump’s Executive Order, calling sociologists to lead research and legal efforts against the ban.

There is a critical need for us individually, as sociologists, and collectively, as an association, to listen and understand the voice and actions of multiple publics across the world; not to dismiss but to discuss, to actively engage in dialogue and debate; to examine and address the issues of inequality and injustices that are at the root of the ethnocentrism, xenophobia, and extreme right-wing thinking on the rise. We need to reflect, respond and recognise our responsibility as sociologists to address what is happening on the ground in these grim times and strive to address injustices. I am writing this at the outset because, despite the multiple challenges we currently confront, I continue to believe in reason and I’m confident that sociologists can play a key role in the formidable task of reviving hope and crafting a better future in an inclusive and just world.

The American Sociological Association has taken a number of important steps to support their members and have asked for further suggestions. The ASA writes:

As sociologists, we oppose this Executive Order because it affects our colleagues and students as well as the conditions for knowledge production. In addition, sociologists have documented and analysed the ways in which symbolic boundaries are made more rigid and result in the social exclusion of specific groups. This Executive Order targeting specific groups of individuals has effects not only on its immediate victims, but also on how our society understands itself and its orientation toward diversity and human rights…

We are also working with several coalitions of scientific and humanistic disciplinary societies to defend the fundamental principles of academic scholarship and the use of empirical evidence in support of public policy. This is especially important at a time when “alternative facts” are offered as “evidence” in regard to challenges to scientific consensus on climate change and other policy issues. We are working with these coalitions to develop immediate and long-term strategies to address issues such as access to data essential to the study of racial discrimination and other forms of inequality and exclusion.

Here are the steps the ASA has taken so far, as outlined in their statement:

1. The ASA is taking “a firm stance” against last week’s Executive Order. They have co-signed the statement by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
2. The ASA is actively monitoring the upcoming ASA Annual Meeting in Montreal and looking for ways to address issues.
3. The ASA asks sociologists to report to them threats to academic freedom and expertise and to the professional lives of sociologists. Contact ASA Executive Director Nancy Kidd, nkidd@asanet.org.
4. The ASA asks experts “in particular areas that are threatened by current and future public policy decisions” to contact them, to better coordinate responses.
5. The ASA asks its members: “please be prepared to respond to calls for action.” For example:
   1. Sign the Academics Against Immigration Executive Order
   2. Participate in the March for Science, endorsed by the ASA.

This is a good model to build on. The visa issue still needs proactive advocacy and tangible support for researchers as it is a legal barrier that is highly taxing and difficult to navigate. I hope that The Australian Sociological Association may publicise its stance and consider forms of visa support to scholars who may be potentially affected by the ban. While they cater to a national membership, we belong to an international tradition, and our Muslim colleagues here and overseas could use the support.

Resources

Follow media updates on the executive order impact on dual nationals from Australia.

Images

All images by Zuleyka Zevallos.

1. Header: among a group of protesters at the Women’s March Sydney, a woman holds the sign that reads: Trump Uphold Human Rights for All.
2. A woman holds up sign with the Australian flag visible in the background. Message reads: No hate no fear, everyone is welcome here. 
3. In a crowd of standing protesters facing front, a woman holds sign low behind her back. It reads: People have the power to redeem the work of fools. 
4. Two open palms are painted like a world atlas, with the ISA quote as above: “We need to reflect… an inclusive and just world.” Quote: International Sociological Association. Image: Sociology at Work.
5. Women protesters are walking through Sydney CBD. One of the sign reads: Without community there is no liberation.