Chapman professors sign petition against President Trump’s executive order
The executive order prohibits travelers from seven countries from entering the U.S. Graphic by Caroline Roffe
ifteen Chapman professors are among thousands of U.S. faculty members who have signed a petition against President Donald Trump’s immigration executive order issued Jan. 27.
The petition asserts three main points: that the order is discriminatory, harmful to the national interests of the U.S. and “imposes undue burden on members of the community.”
As of Feb. 5, the petition had been signed by more than 27,000 academic supporters, 20,000 of whom are U.S. faculty members.
The executive order seeks to disallow travelers from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Sudan and Syria from entering the U.S. for a 90-day period, and suspends the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days. The petition states that the conditions of the suspensions “make it very likely that this (executive order) will turn into a permanent ban.”
Justin Dressel
Justin Dressel, a physics professor who discovered the petition on social media, works closely with an Iranian student in a doctoral degree program at Chapman who returned to the U.S. weeks before the executive order was issued. If she had remained with her family until the end of interterm, Dressel said, it is unlikely she would have been able to gain re-entry into the U.S.
“As it is, she can no longer go back to home, visit her family,” Dressel said. “She can’t get back into the U.S. if she does that, at this point. She’s stuck here until the end of her degree.”
Dressel also said that he is concerned that some of his Iranian colleagues may be targeted, which is part of why he signed the petition.
“They’re very good people, very good researchers, very good scientists. And they are scared right now,” Dressel said. “They’re scared they won’t be able to see their family anymore. And if the executive order becomes permanent, they may never be able to go home again. They may never be able to bring their family to come visit.”
Dressel said that he thinks the ban could affect academic research and technology growth in the U.S.
“I think it’s important in this case to take a firm stance that scientists are not OK with restricting immigration that can impact the future of science in this country,” Dressel said. “It turns out that in the technology sector, which is partly where I work, that much of the talent comes from immigrants.”
According to a National Science Foundation study conducted in 2006, more than half of those seeking post-doctoral degrees in science and engineering at U.S. universities were immigrants.
Economics professor Jared Rubin, who also signed the petition, specializes in economic research regarding politics in the Middle East and Western Europe. He said that while it is unlikely the petition will make any impact on the Trump administration’s decisions, he still believes the academic community has an important role in spreading awareness.
Jared Rubin
“Academia is very much of an international community. I know a number of people, especially from Iran; there’s a lot of people from Iran,” Rubin said. “Not just in academia, but especially within economics. We’re running this conference in Boston next month that I know at least two people can’t come to. In the grand scheme of things, that’s minor compared to the disproportionate harm this does to people, especially refugees.”
Like Dressel, Rubin also works with a post-doctoral student who is from Iran and is now unable to travel internationally because of the ban. Although he was not able to attend the anti-xenophobia protest on campus Feb. 1, Rubin said that social activism is an integral part of helping students who might be affected.
“(Protesting is) probably the main thing college students can do, and it’s not just at Chapman,” Rubin said. “Whether it’s going to Los Angeles International Airport to do the airport protest or just joining in more broadly, this is a time that social activism is more necessary than any time in our lifetime.”