Monday, February 3, 2020

Trump extends and expands travel bans

To the desperation of international educators, the Trump administration is extending the ban against immigration visas for six new countries from the African continent. Although the bans relate to immigration and not study visas, the Executive Director of the National (USA) Association of Foreign Student Advisors (NAFSA) condemned the bans saying, "As international educators committee to fostering a peaceful, more welcoming United States, we are deeply disturbed by this latest travel ban expansion and the message it sends..." The additional bans are based on the Trump administration's view that security measures and information sharing about potential threats is inadequate in the targeted countries.

Renowned international scholars have also confronted prolonged processing timeframes or visa denials. Two high profile cases involved European scholars, one of whom recently traveled to Iran and the other was caught in an algorithm related to previous travel and contacts with people and organizations that flagged him as a potential threat.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.