More than 42,000 academics from around the world – including more than 200 Syracuse University faculty – have signed an ongoing online petition opposing President Donald Trump’s executive order curbing immigration from seven majority Muslim countries.

The petition, hosted on a website called notoimmigrationban.com, denounces Trump’s executive order as burdensome, discriminatory and “detrimental to the national interests of the United States,” and calls for the Trump administration to “reconsider going forward with this Executive (Order).”

Trump signed the controversial order on Jan. 27 that prevents people from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the country for the next 90 days, and all refugee admissions for 120 days.

A federal district court suspended the order on Friday, but the Trump administration has continued to push for it to be reinstated.

Mehrzad Boroujerdi, a professor of political science in Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs who signed the petition, did not mince words on the order, describing it as “ill-advised,” “draconian” and “un-American.”

Osamah Khalil, a professor of Middle Eastern history in Maxwell, said he opposes the executive order from a humanitarian point of view.

“This is a human and a moral issue at its core,” Khalil said.

Citing stories of children separated from their parents and elderly people in poor health detained for hours in United States airports as the direct consequence of the ban, Khalil said he believes the order ultimately “cheapens all of us.”

Both Khalil and Boroujerdi also criticized a provision of the order that would suspend the Syrian refugee resettlement program indefinitely and slash the number of refugees the country accepts.

“I thought (the order) was quite a horrible demonstration of our commitment to the plight of refugees,” Boroujerdi said.

William Banks, a professor of law and public administration and international affairs and the founding director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, said he believes the order is morally wrong because it discriminates against groups of people based on religion, without considering individual circumstances.

“(The executive order) singles out people who happen to be Muslim,” he said. “It’s a direct assault on Islam and Muslims from those seven countries.”

For this reason, Banks added that he believes the order is unconstitutional. The order, he said, defies the First Amendment’s protections for freedom of religion.

Additionally, neither Banks nor Khalil believes that the provisions of the executive order will do much to keep Americans safe from terrorism.

“It’s a political statement by (Trump), appealing to his base,” Banks said. “We have a very good vetting process for individuals who want to enter the United States. … There’s no reason to single out individuals from these seven countries for any special scrutiny, much less banning them from being here for 120 days.”

Several professors who signed the petition also expressed their concern that the executive order will make it more difficult for academics to work together across national borders and for universities to hire new faculty from other countries.

Boroujerdi said some international students are now more reluctant to study in the U.S. due to fears of how they will be perceived in the current political climate.

“I’ve already had to deal with cases such as an Egyptian lady, who has been admitted to the doctoral program at Syracuse emailing me and saying, ‘I put on the head scarf and I’m now worried that Syracuse isn’t a safe place for me to come, (given) what’s happening there,’” Boroujerdi said.

SU professors who signed the petition expressed their hope that the letter will help reassure international students who may be feeling unwelcome that they are supported and accepted at SU, and in the academic community at large.

They also hope to send a message to the Trump administration that they do not agree with the executive order or the spirit they feel it represents.

“That’s where this petition comes in,” Khalil said. “It’s important for academics, for people of conscience to stand up and say this cannot be done, not in my name, and … (not) in the name of the United States.”

Published on February 8, 2017 at 9:04 pm

Contact Madeleine: mdavison@syr.edu