Immigration from seven Middle Eastern and African countries suspended

President Donald Trump issued an executive order greatly limiting immigration into the United States on Friday, Jan. 27. Though the administration is hesitant to call it a ban, the order “suspends entry into the United States” for seven particular countries.

The countries ‘banned’ from entry are: Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Yemen, and Libya. These countries were labeled by the Obama administration as high risk, and the current Secretary of Homeland Security, John F. Kelly, clearly agrees. All people from these countries, including refugees, are not allowed into the country for a minimum of 90 days, a deadline which can be extended by the Department of Homeland Security if it sees fit. A refugee ban has also been imposed, for 120 days from the specified countries, but indefinitely for any Syrian refugees.

The initial reaction of many major airports was to – wrongly- ban all non-US citizens coming into the country from the specified regions. This included many green-card holding, legal US residents, who were detained until the misunderstanding could be cleared up.

There is much controversy surrounding this order, with many worried that the ban has religious roots, since the banned countries have an Islamic majority. There is also a significant concern to the future of students and others from the banned countries in America on temporary visas. In response to the executive order, many U.S. citizens have organized protests against the ban.

President Farvardin has advised Stevens faculty, and students to take caution in regards to Trump’s executive order. He described that the order could be a potential detriment to all US colleges. He mentions this applies particularly to Stevens, due to its great diversity and plentiful international research opportunities. He also claims it goes directly against values central to Stevens, whose values hinging on nondiscrimination and inclusiveness. President Farvardin urges affected members of the Stevens community not to travel internationally until Stevens can be certain as to the affects of the executive order on faculty and students.