Trump travel order’s effect on California universities central to court challenge

The question of how state universities would be harmed by an executive order restricting travelers from seven countries was at the heart of a legal challenge upheld this week by a San Francisco-based appellate court.

University of California President Janet Napolitano, the former U.S. secretary of Homeland Security, was among 10 former government officials who filed a statement in support of the challenge and UC Merced Chancellor Dorothy Leland joined her fellow UC chancellors in saying they were “deeply concerned” over how the order could impair their missions.

The administration of President Donald Trump issued the order Feb. 3, temporarily blocking travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries in the interests of national security.

In a ruling issued Thursday by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, a three-judge panel rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to lift a stay that has blocked the executive order from being enforced pending a legal challenge by the states of Washington and Minnesota. The Washington Post reported Friday afternoon that White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said the administration is “reviewing all of our options in the court system,” including possibly going to the Supreme Court.

Washington and Minnesota argued that the teaching and research missions of their universities are harmed by the order, which restricts travelers from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

“These students and faculty cannot travel for research, academic collaboration, or for personal reasons, and their families abroad cannot visit,” the court noted in its ruling. “Some have been stranded outside the country, unable to return to the universities at all. The schools cannot consider attractive student candidates and cannot hire faculty from the seven affected countries, which they have done in the past.”

UC Merced officials have not said how many, if any, of their faculty, staff or students stand to be affected by the executive order.

In a statement released Jan. 29, Leland was among the UC chancellors and Napolitano who said the order “restricts the ability of our students, faculty, staff and other members of the UC community from certain countries from being able to enter or return to the United States.”

While maintaining the security of the nation’s visa system is critical, the statement said, “this executive order is contrary to the values we hold dear as leaders of the University of California.”

The UC community “has long been deeply enriched” by students from around the world, it said. “It is critical that the United States continues to welcome the best students, scholars, scientists, and engineers of all backgrounds and nationalities.”

Napolitano joined former high-level officials, including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former CIA Director Leon Panetta, in filing an amicus brief in support of the challenge, saying the order “ ultimately undermines the national security of the United States, rather than making us safer.”

The UC said the travel restrictions and two other executive orders concerning immigration were “creating a climate of confusion and fear among members of our community, especially among undocumented students and those of the Muslim faith.”

This story was originally published February 10, 2017 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Trump travel order’s effect on California universities central to court challenge."