Following the Supreme Court’s June 26th 5-4 decision to uphold President Donald Trump’s travel ban, President Martha E. Pollack issued a statement to the Cornell community against the court’s decision.
In her email Pollack said Cornell joined 33 other institutions of higher education in filing an amicus brief “arguing that the travel ban harms American higher education.”
Pollack expressed that she is “deeply disappointed” by the upholding of the travel ban. According to CNN, this is the third version of the executive order that restricts entry from certain countries to the United States. The ban began in September and includes Iran, North Korea, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Venezuela. The country Chad was on the list but removed after meeting the basic security requirements in place.
According to her statement, nearly one-fifth of students, faculty and staff are members of the international community and the University “will continue to do everything we can to support them.”
Pollack ended her statement saying Cornell will “continue to work with our higher education partners to advocate for a fair and equitable immigration policy.
She said in her email, “It is imperative that we remain committed to an immigration process that values the open exchange of ideas, religious and intercultural diversity, and scholarly pursuits.”