AAUP Files Amicus Brief in Trump Travel Ban Case
The AAUP joined with the American Council on Education and other higher education groups in submitting an amicus brief to the Supreme Court opposing the Trump administration's newest/most recent travel ban. The current iteration of the travel ban places restrictions on entry to the United States by citizens from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad, North Korea, and Venezuela. AAUP previously joined a Supreme Court amicus brief that supported appeals involving the largely successful attempts to prevent the enforcement of earlier iterations of the travel ban.
Our amicus brief, submitted March 28, argues that the new travel ban "jeopardizes the many contributions that foreign students, scholars, and researchers make to American colleges and universities, as well as our nation's economy and general well-being." The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on April 25, with a decision expected in late June.
The case arose when the Trump administration issued a third travel ban after the earlier versions were enjoined and ultimately expired. The state of Hawaii and others challenged the administration's September 24 order, arguing that it violated both federal law and the US Constitution. Two federal district judges issued preliminary injunctions that applied only to the six Muslim-majority countries named in the travel ban, but not to North Korea and Venezuela.
The Trump administration appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, and the AAUP joined thirty-two other higher education organizations in filing the amicus brief opposing the ban. The brief argues that "foreign students, faculty and researchers come to this country because our institutions are rightly perceived as the destinations of choice compared to all others around the globe." The most recent ban, together with the first two travel ban executive orders, "altered those positive perceptions with the stroke of a pen."