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I am an American working overseas. I work with several students from Iran who have never been to America. What should I say to students who have been banned from entering my home country?

Anonymous Physicist
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2 Answers2

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Put it in its historical context.

The United States can be a wonderful place to visit or even live, but it does have a long term history of periods of political unreasonableness. During those periods, it becomes so afraid of some group of "others" that the fear overrides human rights, treaties, justice, common sense, and the US constitution. Keeping the US safe from the feared group is the overriding concern, and nothing else matters compared to that. Often, the feared group includes a few people who really are dangerous, but the danger gets grossly exaggerated and makes the US deeply afraid of an easily identified larger group.

There was a mild one during Nixon's presidency, when the feared group was people protesting the Vietnam War. The most recent really severe one, in the 1950's, was McCarthyism, when the feared group was communists. In WWII the feared group was people of Japanese origin or descent. Now, the feared group is Muslims, and people stereotyped, based on e.g. national origin, as being Muslims.

The good news is that, after a period of fear-based unreasonableness, the US always sorts itself out and gets back to sanity.

Any students from one of the affected countries, and perhaps Muslims in general, who need to make immediate decisions about e.g. a postdoc should consider going somewhere other than the US. If you are planning an international conference, it may be better to pick a country whose visa policies make it more likely that all interested academics can attend.

In the longer term, the current fear of Muslims will go the way of fear of Irish Catholics, fear of Chinese immigrants, Japanese-American internment, and the McCarthy era.

Patricia Shanahan
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    My takeaway from this is that in 50 years there will be a new set of innocent victims? It makes Americans sound stupid. – Anonymous Physicist Jan 29 '17 at 10:39
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    Regarding the last paragraph: as a Chinese used to live in the deep south of the U.S., I can tell you that the fear never go away. I upvote the answer because it is what I hope to see. – Nobody Jan 29 '17 at 11:41
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    @AnonymousPhysicist I am afraid the takeaway is that it won't take close to 50 years. We were long overdue, apparently. – xLeitix Jan 29 '17 at 11:59
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    @xLeitix I had hoped that the civil rights movement, and the resulting discrediting of racial prejudice, might have helped prevent a repeat. Unfortunately, it seems only to have delayed it. I do take heart from the Americans who have turned out to protest this, and the pro-bono lawyers sitting on airport floors preparing filings. – Patricia Shanahan Jan 29 '17 at 14:52
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    @AnonymousPhysicist For anyone who thinks countries never act stupid, which tends to lead to sounding stupid, I strongly recommend The March of Folly. – Patricia Shanahan Jan 29 '17 at 16:21
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Just tell them "I think it is unfair that everyone from your country has been banned from entering my country."

Anonymous Physicist
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    Did you answer your own question? – Captain Emacs Jan 29 '17 at 05:47
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    I agree the travel ban is a problem, but I don't see the point of your question and answer. Anyone who thinks it's unfair already knows to say this. Anyone who doesn't think it is unfair is just going to downvote you and post comments that will likely turn into a political flame war. – Nate Eldredge Jan 29 '17 at 05:51
  • @NateEldredge I would like reasoned and thoughtful feedback on this answer, or alternative answers. You can check my history; I don't post political trolls here. This is a real issue I actually face. – Anonymous Physicist Jan 29 '17 at 06:00