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Dear John,
Yesterday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced its plans to deport international students from the U.S. if their college goes fully online for the fall semester in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is just one more move by the Trump administration to use today's global health crisis to further its xenophobic agenda.
For Iranian students, this heartless move is even more devastating because sanctions already prohibit schools from offering online learning to Iranians in many fields, including the sciences, engineering, and mathematics. An online academic conference connecting neuroscientists across the globe—Neuromatch Academy—was recently forced to block Iranian nationals from participating because of sanctions, despite the clear public health benefits of global collaboration amid a pandemic. Sanctions should never get in the way of public health and academic exchange.
Take action today and call on your Members of Congress to block ICE’s plan to deport international students and to further demand that sanctions do not continue to undermine academic and public health exchanges.
Iranian students have had to navigate sanctions, the Muslim ban, and now the possibility of deportation amid a pandemic. But our community is resilient and won’t give up without a fight. And I look forward to working with you in that fight.
In solidarity,
Donna Farvard
National Organizing Director, NIAC Action
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