President Trump’s issuance Monday of a revised executive order placing tight restrictions on the entry into the United States of some foreigners received a guarded reception from higher education leaders and frontline college and university officials involved in international higher education efforts.
“While the revised executive order is more limited in scope, the impact is significant,” says Peter McPherson, president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), which consists of 250 of the nation’s largest public research institutions. “The pipeline of new students and scholars from those countries — many of whom are in the midst of the college application process — is now cut off.
“Public research universities are also concerned that the new order could have a chilling effect on students and scholars in other countries who are considering whether to study and conduct research in the United States or elsewhere.”
McPherson says Trump’s new order “undermines” the ability of America’s universities to “thrive,” something he attributes to their freedom to connect throughout the world. During the 2015-16 school year, he notes, more than 15,000 students and more than 2,100 scholars from the six countries covered by Monday’s order studied and conducted research at American universities.
The six countries affected by Monday’s order are Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria, and Libya. Citizens from those countries will face a 90-day ban on travel to the United States starting March 16. It does not revoke existing visas approved before March 16 nor does it specifically state what, if any, new rules apply to current lawful permanent residents and holders of green cards.
Monday’s announcement by the White House and the U.S. attorney general, on behalf of Trump, also says visas revoked when the original travel ban was issued by Trump have been fully restored, according to NBC News.
