AFA Statement on the Deportation of Noncitizen Scholars and Students
Fear of deportation poses “grave threat to the mission of American universities”
PRINCETON, NJ – The Academic Freedom Alliance (AFA) today issued a statement regarding the deportation of noncitizen scholars and students from American universities. The statement is available in full below and online.
Statement attributable to The Academic Freedom Alliance:
“It is a grave threat to the mission of American universities if international scholars and students fear removal from the United States based on little more than their expression of views disfavored by people holding public office. Academic freedom is a condition of the robust exchange of ideas that drives the pursuit of knowledge in colleges and universities, and everyone in an academic community must be equally protected in their academic freedom.
“An open society welcomes intellectual exchange across a global community. The United States has benefitted immeasurably from being a central hub in a network of international scholarly activity. For many decades, the United States has served as a refuge for scholars from the across the globe who feared persecution and censorship at home and has nurtured free inquiry that has often been stifled in other countries. Private and public actors in the United States have poured resources into institutions of American higher education which have recruited the leading lights of scientific and scholarly research from across the world. Intellectual progress is best served by welcoming all who are willing and able to participate in that joint project of generating and disseminating ideas. It is through free and open discussion on American university campuses that new insights into the natural and social worlds are made possible.
“Over the decades, the United States has built many of the world’s leading institutions of higher learning and scholarly research. Our global leadership will be cast into doubt, however, if students and scholars fear working or studying in or even entering the United States. International scholars will not come to the United States if their intellectual freedom is not protected. Foreign scholars and students residing in the United States will not express themselves freely if they fear that saying something that upsets those holding political power will lead to their removal from the country.
“The chilling effect on the free exchange of ideas on campus, on the freedom of teaching and research, and on the freedom of public expression of views on matters of public concern is real and immediate if students and scholars traveling, working, or studying in the United States on temporary visas or green cards fear that the American government will revoke their authorization to be in the country on the basis of their writings or speech.
“Foreign students and scholars who enter in the United States, temporarily or indefinitely, do so on a conditional basis, and if they violate the conditions of their lawful presence in the country they can properly be removed. It is imperative that the permission of foreign students and scholars to enter or remain in the country be revoked only for the proper reasons, which do not include the mere expression of controversial scholarly, political, or social views. If foreign scholars and students are going to be able to live and work in the United States, to express themselves freely in public and to engage in the ordinary activities of scholarship and teaching, they must be confident that their status will not be put at risk by their engaging, alongside other members of the academic community, in the lawful expression of ideas that those with political power happen to find controversial.
“We call on American government officials to clearly state that international students and scholars will not be removed from the country simply for engaging in lawful expressive activities, whether personal or professional. We call upon American government officials to clearly state the factual basis and legal rationale when visas are revoked. A climate of uncertainty is itself a threat to the free exchange of ideas on American university campuses. It is imperative that the government not only refrain from removing individuals from the country for exercising First Amendment liberties but also credibly reassure the scholarly community that the immigration laws will not be used to stifle First Amendment protected speech.”