ASU Advises Students On Avoiding Trump’s Travel Ban
By Staff Reporter |
Arizona State University (ASU) issued an email advising students on avoiding President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
The university’s action potentially interferes with a decision by the Trump administration to improve national security.
ASU sent out an email last Friday, obtained by ABC 15, telling international students to return and remain in the country until the completion of their degree so as to avoid any potential conflicts with immigration enforcement.
“At ASU, we measure success as a university not by whom we exclude, but by whom we include and how they succeed. This principle is foundational to our charter as a New American University because we know that diverse perspectives enhance the strength of our scholarly community and of our democracy. This proclamation has no effect on our fundamental institutional values. We advise you to stay in the U.S. Per the proclamation, all nationals from these countries will not be able to enter the U.S. until further notice. If you are currently not in the United States, we strongly recommend you return before June 9, 2025. If you are currently in the United States, the International Students and Scholar Center highly recommends that you do not leave the country until the completion of your degree.”
ASU has over 17,000 international students.
The New American University is a model of higher education conceptualized by ASU President Michael Crow. Its cofounder, Jerry Hirsch, is known for his longtime chairmanship of the Lodestar Foundation in Phoenix and establishment of nonprofit iterations designed to thwart Trump.
The New American University received funding from leading Democratic dark money donor George Soros in recent years.
President Donald Trump issued a travel ban last week on nationals from the countries of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. The proclamation also further restricted travel on individuals hailing from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
The purpose of the travel ban is to ensure enemies of the country don’t enter it, according to the president. Trump’s proclamation revealed that the foreign countries named in the travel ban had “deficient” screening and vetting procedures, with many exhibiting a “historic failure” to take back their nationals.
“The United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists or other threats to our national security,” said Trump.
The president cited the recent terrorist attack on protesters by an illegal immigrant in Boulder, Colorado, as an impetus for the ban. 15 individuals were injured as a result of the attack.
Trump’s travel ban doesn’t apply retroactively to visa holders hailing from the affected countries.
Exceptions to the ban also extend to lawful permanent residents; dual nationals of a designated country traveling on a passport issued by a non-designated country; foreign nationals traveling with certain nonimmigrant visas; athletes and their team members traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or certain other major sporting events; immediate family immigrant visas; adoptions; Afghan Special Immigrant Visas; Special Immigrant Visas for U.S. government employees; and immigrant visas for ethnic and religious minorities facing persecution in Iran.
The travel ban took effect on Monday, the day by which ASU advised its international students to return and remain in the country.
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