President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 27 banning travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries. This ban came only a week after Trump took office, taking many immigrants, travelers, students and American citizens by surprise.
On Jan. 28, University President Ronald J. Daniels and Provost Sunil Kumar sent an email to the Hopkins community offering their support to those who might be affected by the travel ban. They scheduled information sessions on different Hopkins campuses to go over the details of the executive order and its impact, and they endorsed a statement by the Association of American Universities calling for the ban’s end.
Yesterday, Daniels sent another email in which he personally condemned the ban. Daniels touched upon his own experience as an immigrant to the United States from Canada and shared the story of his father’s family’s immigration to Canada as Jewish refugees in 1939, only months before the Nazi invasion of Poland. He wrote that the University will unequivocally support members of the Hopkins family affected by the ban.
In these trying times, Daniels’ words have reassured Hopkins students, faculty and staff that our University will not bow to pressure. The Editorial Board knows that Trump’s ban violates the principles that both the United States and Hopkins hold dear.
We thank Daniels not only for sharing his story but also for taking a stance against the ban and its injustice. As the president of our University, Daniels has a responsibility to lead the Hopkins community by example, and he would have failed in his duty had he not spoken out. Students should pressure Daniels and the University to follow the impressive and lofty principles of his letter.
We all know that the brilliance of Johns Hopkins relies on its sizeable international community. The Editorial Board knows that diversity is one of our greatest strengths. The ban has threatened the students and faculty members that represent our diversity, the United States’ reputation, and has needlessly divided us in a time when we must be united.
The News-Letter stands with those who have been affected by the travel ban and all those fighting it. We need you to keep protesting and making your voices heard. This executive order could make the United States a center of Islamophobia and xenophobia, and we can’t let that happen.
We commend the protesters who occupied BWI airport last weekend, showing support for immigrants and disdain for Trump’s executive order. Many of the protesters wore the pink p*ssy hats, a visual marker from the Women’s March, and the Editorial Board praises these people for keeping up their pledges to continue to stand up for human rights.
Similar protests occurred at international airports all over the country last weekend, as permanent residents, visa holders and tourists were barred from entering the United States. Seeing national solidarity reassures us that most Americans support refugees and rebuke Trump’s vitriolic hatred.
The Editorial Board encourages students to remain vigilant. Trump won’t change, and he won’t back down easily. The protesters at the Women’s March, at Black Lives Matter demonstrations and fighting for climate justice have given this Editorial Board hope. Throughout the next four years, we’ll be out on the streets with you.
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