BY NATALIA KOLENKO, CAMPUS EDITOR
President Trump’s recent executive order entitled “Protection of the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States” was created to keep persons from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia from entering the United States for 90 days and suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days, according to a White House press release.
Mason students felt the effects of Trump’s executive order. Several Mason students’ and scholars’ home nations are on the list, and those students have been personally affected by the order.
According to the Office of International Programs and Services at Mason:
- 80-90 students and scholars have been directly impacted by the executive order, as they are from one of the seven countries on the ban list.
- Because of the speed with which the executive orders went into effect, some students left their home countries and were on airplanes en route to the U.S. but were barred from entry upon landing.
- The Office of International Programs and Services (OIPS) is available to meet one-on-one with students impacted by the ban, and students can find updated information on their website: oips.gmu.edu
- The Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia has instructed immigration counsel to work closely with public institutions and provide guidance on how to interpret the shifting landscape of legal ramifications provoked by the ban. While neither Mason nor Commonwealth attorneys are providing official legal counsel to students, they are both working to help students identify available support resources and clarify changes to the ban as they are announced.