The American Historical Association has released a statement condemning “policies and practices that target international scholars.” The AHA deplores “the atmosphere of fear and repression created by the harassment of foreign-born students and scholars by government agencies.”
International scholars are an integral part of the community of historians represented by the American Historical Association. These students, staff, and faculty contribute to America’s public culture and prosperity through their research, teaching, and broader participation in the intellectual life of higher education. The current administration’s immigration policies and practices threaten the vitality of historical work through the targeting of international scholars for increased scrutiny and legal action. The American Historical Association condemns policies and practices that target international scholars. We deplore the atmosphere of fear and repression created by the harassment of foreign-born students and scholars by government agencies.
The longstanding system for granting visas and overseeing the process for admitting international students to the United States is now in disarray. The State Department has recently revoked the visas of hundreds of international students. Scholars, including those with permanent resident status, have been detained. Records are being terminated in the Student Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) without notifying the students’ host institutions. In a recent press release, US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that international scholars are among the individuals whose “antisemitic activity on social media” will be reviewed in the consideration of their immigration status. Visiting foreign scholars have been denied entry into the United States to attend conferences, seminars, and other academic gatherings. These actions have contributed to great uncertainty, with institutions of higher education lacking some of the basic information needed to advise students, staff, and faculty.
New policies and practices have curtailed the ability of scholars to travel for their research, stymied institutional collaboration, and prompted talented students to seek educational opportunities elsewhere. Overall, these measures have created an atmosphere in which international scholars fear that what they say in classrooms, what they write in their scholarship, or what they say in public may be used as grounds for the revocation of their visas, the upending of their education, and the suspension of their careers. Such a chilling effect stands to hinder all students’ educational experiences and America’s research and scholarly pre-eminence.
This is not the first time that foreign-born scholars have faced the brunt of domestic political pressure. The Department for Homeland Security (DHS) implemented the SEVIS program to monitor students and exchange visitors in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The first Trump administration’s bans on travel from seven countries threatened to hinder the ability of universities to attract the world’s best scholars and to carry out their educational missions.
The American Historical Association once again affirms the vital role international scholars play in universities and in history education across the United States. The current administration’s assault on international scholars threatens national and international scholarly networks. It is imperative that all agencies of government respect the legal rights of international scholars presently in the United States and those who seek to come to study and work.
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