A Yale Law School professor has warned international students about an imminent US travel ban as the Trump administration appears to be poised to introduce new restrictions on foreigners entering the country.
In an email Sunday night, Yale Law Professors Munear Ahmad and Michael Wishney warned students of potentially affected countries that if they are abroad they should consider returning to the US immediately or leaving the US now.
“The government has not officially issued a travel ban, but credible reports strongly suggest that, as in 2017, it could soon be suspended from entering citizens from target countries,” wrote the professor directing the rights of workers and immigrants. It is unclear whether the emails were sent to all Yale Law School students, and the university did not respond to requests for comment on whether official recommendations have come.
The email follows a similarly timing notification from Brown University after a report from Reuters and the New York Times, and reports that the Trump administration is considering a drastic new travel ban that could target citizens from 43 countries facing a full travel ban.
According to the outlet, the strictest restrictions apply to the “red list” of 11 countries, including Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen, which unfairly prohibits citizens from entering the United States.
The second “orange” layer includes countries facing sharp visa restrictions, such as Belarus, Pakistan, Russia and Haiti. The third “yellow” layer offers 21 countries, mainly Africa, 60 days, to address security concerns.
Yale's email guidance goes beyond that from target countries, adding that all foreign students and academics could face increased scrutiny. The law professor noted that individuals were asked about their support from border officials for the Palestinian cause and could revoke their visas based on their responses.
“We cannot advise you on how to answer such questions,” the professor wrote.
This notification is also part of a broader pattern that began more than a few months ago. This anticipates a recurring travel ban seen during his first term, more than dozens of US universities began issuing recommendations for international students to return to campus before Trump took office.
The imminent travel ban follows Trump's somewhat low January executive order, with the State Department identifiable to countries “are very inadequate to ensure partial or complete suspension of hospitalizations of citizens from these countries due to the very lack of review and screening information.” By March 21st, the department's report will finalize these recommendations before implementation.
Across the university's campus, the potential ban and target barrage of potential bans and targets has shaking just as well for students and faculty, especially after the recent well-known deportation incident. Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a kidney transplant expert and professor at Brown University's School of Medicine, was deported to Lebanon last week despite having secured a court order with a valid visa and temporarily prevented his banishment.
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U.S. District Court Judge Leo To Sorokin of Massachusetts later pointed out that there was reason to believe that U.S. Customs and Border Protection had “willfully refused” his order to provide notice before deporting Alawyer.
Meanwhile, Columbia University graduate and US resident Mahmoud Halil was detained in a university apartment while his eight-month pregnant wife watched. Halil, a Syrian-born Palestinian who served as a mediator between protesters and university officials during the campus demonstrations, was transferred to a New Jersey immigration and customs enforcement facility before his family flew to Louisiana without being informed of his whereabouts.
The American Council of Islamic Relations responded to the developing situation by issuing its own travel advisory in early March, urging people who are legally present in the United States to avoid the next 30-day international travel if they are citizens of a country that may be affected by the ban.
