#NoBanNoWall by Allan K. '17

January 29, 2017

received this email from mit administration sometime yesterday:

To the members of the MIT community:

The Executive Order President Trump signed yesterday restricting individuals from seven countries from entering the United States is already having an impact on members of our community.

While we are very troubled by this situation, our first concern is for those of our international students and scholars who are directly affected. We are working closely with them to offer every support we can.

We are also keeping close watch on the overall situation and exploring the best options to help and respond.

If you have specific questions, please contact David Elwell, associate dean and director of the International Students Office or Penny Rosser, director of the International Scholars Office.

Sincerely,
Martin A. Schmidt
Cynthia Barnhart
Maria T. Zuber

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got this updated letter this morning:

To the members of the MIT community:

Yesterday afternoon, we wrote to you about President Trump’s executive order restricting people from seven countries from entering the United States. We write now with an important update and with new guidance to directly affected members of the MIT community.

Update
Early this morning, the Massachusetts federal district court issued a temporary order that restrains the government from enforcing the Executive Order to detain or remove holders of a valid visa or green card who travel from the seven countries to the US through Logan Airport. This order is in effect for the next 7 days.

The seven affected countries are: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

New guidance from MIT
If you are a directly affected member of the MIT community who is currently traveling outside the United States and you wish to return to campus, we encourage you to fly back to Boston–directly to Logan Airport–as as soon as possible, and before February 4.

The MIT administration is helping members of our community who we know to be traveling, including connecting them to legal resources.

If you are from one of the seven affected countries and are not already in touch with us, please reach out. You can email David Elwell, Associate Dean and Director of the International Students Office, or Penny Rosser, Director of the International Scholars Office. We will do what we can to help you get back to campus.

Noontime rally
Students have organized a gathering in Lobby 7 for today at noon, ahead of a rally in Copley Square opposing the executive order. Faculty chair Krishna Rajagopal has emailed all faculty inviting them to attend: with this note, we invite the broader MIT community to join in a show of support for MIT’s values.

We will send further updates as necessary.

Sincerely,
Martin A. Schmidt
Cynthia Barnhart
Maria T. Zuber

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tech article on a student directly affected by the executive order

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student-organized rally in lobby 7, about an hour ago: