US universities strongly oppose Muslim visa ban

WASHINGTON: Administrations of several universities across the United States have strongly opposed the visa ban against seven Muslim countries expressing their support to Muslim students.

Separately a research has shown that the US could lose up to $700 million in revenue per year if Trump’s immigration ban on seven Muslim-majority countries becomes permanent.

“As a public institution, the University of Maryland does not normally take stands on political issues.

“However, we have an obligation to speak out when government actions are fundamentally antithetical to the core values and missions of the institution, especially when
they adversely impact many members of our community,” the President of University of Maryland (UMD)Wallace D Loh said in his statement to students.

He said it is in America's national interest that “we continue to welcome talented individuals of all nations to study, teach, and do research here and retain America's global leadership in higher education.”

“We recognise that a strengthened visa process is important to our nation's security. But this executive order poses human, moral, and constitutional dilemmas”, he said adding that 350 people mostly graduate students in UMD had been affected by the Executive Order.

He said the potential of this order for negatively impacting the educational and research missions of the campus is significant.

Harvard University, Texas Tech University and several others issued similar statements. “Amid this widespread doubt and unease, we will continue to insist that policymakers take full account of how fundamentally our universities depend on the ability of people to travel across borders without undue constraint,” Harvard President Drew Faust said.

According to a report by College Factual, a higher education research firm US will lose significant amount of revenue if the ban is imposed permanently against seven Muslim countries.

The figure comes from student visa data and depends on whether international students pay the full price of tuition and fees, and whether all students who are granted a visa actually enroll at a US school, Bloomberg reported.

Trump's executive order suspended the US refugee programme and temporarily banned immigration from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. But according to College Factual CEO Bill Phelan, even a temporary ban could have negative economic repercussions.

According to UMD a faculty member has already refused to come to UMD as a protest against the move although he was not directly affected by the order. “We must remain true to our bedrock values of diversity and inclusion, tolerance and intellectual freedom. These are hallmarks of our democracy as well,” UMD president said in his statement.