Stanford joins amicus brief opposing revised travel ban

Stanford has joined 30 other universities in filing an amicus brief challenging the federal administration’s March 6 executive order on immigration, arguing that the travel ban imposed on people from six countries threatens the universities’ academic mission.

The filing was made Friday, March 31, in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia. The brief can be read in its entirety here.

Boston University, Brandeis University, Brown University, Bucknell University, Carnegie Mellon University, Case Western Reserve University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Emory University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Middlebury College, Northeastern University, Northwestern University, Princeton University, Rice University, Stanford, Tufts University, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University, Washington University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Yale University joined the brief.

“Recognizing the invaluable contributions of international students, faculty, staff, and scholars, [the universities] make significant efforts to attract the most talented individuals from around the globe,” the brief reads. The executive order threatens the universities’ “ability to continue to attract these individuals and thus to meet their goals of educating tomorrow’s leaders.”

The March 6 executive order revised an earlier version. The second order imposed restrictions for 90 days on entry to the United States of people from six countries – Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Action from federal courts has temporarily suspended implementation of the executive order and legal proceedings around it are continuing.