IACAC and NACAC Oppose Executive Order on Foreign Nationals

NACAC Responds to Immigration Order

Colleagues,

This past Friday’s executive order restricting immigration has shaken the admission profession and the institutions we serve. The policy is fundamentally opposed to NACAC’s values, and we have begun strategizing with colleagues in the higher education community and others to discover ways to help ease the anxiety students, families, and professionals are experiencing.

Students have already been snared in legal limbo, and many face the reality that their education in the US may not be allowed to continue. Currently enrolled international students who are abroad for winter break may not be admitted back into the country; students may be stranded during school closures with no place to stay; and families may not be able to join their loved ones for graduation ceremonies. The president’s order has caused anxiety worldwide and will negatively affect current and future international students in the United States, as well as Americans looking to study abroad. We urge the administration to rescind this action immediately. Closed minds and closed borders significantly weaken our position in the world.

NACAC firmly opposes President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily banning individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US or obtaining visas, including F-1 and J-1 student visas.

We have taken a strong public position against the executive order and will continue to advocate on behalf of our members and the students they serve. Our leadership, including the Board of Directors and standing committees, as well as staff, are monitoring developments as they relate to the executive order, circumstances and details of which are changing by the minute. We will relay information through all available channels as it becomes available.

We are partnering with our colleagues in the education, immigration, and other fields to rally support for the students and schools affected by the executive order and will provide educational resources in the coming weeks as details become more clear about the status and/or effect of this and other executive orders.

We have issued an action alert for members who would like to contact their elected officials to oppose this executive order. In addition, we invite you to share information about colleagues, students, or others who are affected by this executive order so NACAC staff can inform policy discussions about the impact of this action. Please send your comments to legislative@nacacnet.org.

NACAC has a longstanding history of opposition to policies or actions that discriminate on the basis of national origin or religion, or could otherwise infringe on fundamental human rights. We will articulate the depth and breadth of the effects of this executive order to legislators, federal agencies, and the White House.

Nancy Beane
NACAC President

The International Association for College Admission Counseling (International ACAC) joins the growing number of organisations denouncing President Trump’s Executive Order of January 27, 2017, barring “entry of all refugees to the United States for 120 days, [barring] Syrian refugees indefinitely, and [blocking] entry into the United States for 90 days for citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.” This unconstitutional and discriminatory ban is in direct opposition of values that International ACAC holds dear, namely that we value diversity and inclusion and welcome all persons, regardless of age, gender, sex, race, color, nationality, ethnicity, culture, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or disability or handicap.

In this time of uncertainty for the future of our students holding a passport from one of these seven countries and considering higher education in the US, we encourage our members to engage with one another to offer assistance as students find those plans in disarray. We urge members from colleges and universities outside the United States who are still accepting freshman and transfer applications to make that information available on the International ACAC Facebook and by submitting information here, which we will make available on our home page. Please use both channels as not all members are engaged in the Facebook community.

We also encourage our US-based members and our members who are US citizens living abroad to lobby their Congressional Representatives and Senators to denounce this blatantly discriminatory and unconstitutional ban on immigration. You can find the contact information for your Representatives here and your Senators here. We ask our colleagues in NACAC and its twenty-two other state and regional affiliates to join us in these actions. We also urge our members who are citizens of other countries to lobby their governments to join in denouncing this action.

As a professional organisation, we are committed to providing opportunities for members to come together in our shared work and, to that end, will go forward with our plans to gather at Case Western Reserve University this coming July. We believe it is important to stand strong in the face of this type of discrimination and to make our voices heard on behalf of our members and the students they represent and serve. We recognise that not all of our members may be able to attend as a result of the recent actions of President Trump and we will engage and support them through our Regional Institutes and Regional Networks (more information on both initiatives to follow shortly).

Please be assured that the Leadership Team and the Executive Board are monitoring this situation closely and as things unfold, will be in communication with our full membership as information becomes available. We commend our members for their concern and support for students in the seven affected countries and around the world. In these difficult and uncertain times it is important we work together as a community and do all we can to make our voices heard. 

Kristin J Dreazen, President International ACAC
Johanna Fishbein, President-Elect, International ACAC
Joe Giacalone, Past-President, International ACAC
Theresa Schweser, Executive Director, International ACAC