Trump travel policy may affect medical meetings
President Trump’s revised executive order blocking travelers from six Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States could land a damaging blow to global cooperation in scientific research and could impede assemblies of the world’s top medical experts.
The March 6 executive order bars citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen from obtaining visas for 90 days and blocks refugees from those countries from entering the United States for 120 days. The measure, which takes effect March 16, supersedes President Trump’s original Jan. 27 travel ban. The new order exempts citizens of the six countries who are legal permanent U.S. residents or who have current visas.
The policy could have detrimental effects on future collaboration between U.S. and international scientists and may ultimately endanger the health and well-being of patients, said International Antiviral Society–U.S.A. executive director and president Donna M. Jacobsen, regarding the original travel ban.
There is “serious reason for concern” that the policy will dissuade scientists and researchers “from traveling to the [United States] in the future overall and sharing their work with colleagues here,” she said.
Thousands of academics from around the world, including physicians, researchers, and professors, have vowed to boycott U.S.-based conferences in light of the Trump administration policy. A Google Docs petition started shortly after the original ban was announced garnered more than 5,000 signatures by professionals acting in solidarity with those affected by the travel restrictions. The academicians who signed the petition said they would not attend international conferences in the United States until those restricted from participating could rejoin their colleagues and freely share their ideas.
The new executive order comes nearly 2 months after President Trump’s original travel ban caused nationwide protests and led to a series of legal challenges. The states of Washington and Minnesota, which sued President Trump over his original ban, argued that such a ban harms the teaching and research missions of their universities and prevents students and faculty from traveling for research and academic collaboration. In addition, the executive order restricts universities from hiring attractive candidates from countries affected by the ban, state officials said. A federal court temporarily blocked the original travel ban on Feb. 3, a decision upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Feb. 9. The circuit judges said the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in their arguments and that the president had demonstrated no evidence that his executive order advances national security.
The new executive order excludes Iraq and also removes language that had indefinitely banned Syrian refugees. In a March 6 memorandum, the White House said the purpose of the ban is to prevent “foreign nationals who may aid, support, or commit violent, criminal, or terrorist acts,” while the administration enhances the screening and vetting protocols and procedures for granting visas and admission to the United States.
“This nation cannot delay the immediate implementation of additional heightened screening and vetting protocols and procedures for issuing visas to ensure that we strengthen the safety and security of our country,” the memo states.
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