The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), a federation of independent associations and trade unions representing university teachers and other academic professionals has advised academics to refrain from “non-essential” travel to the United States.
In an overview of the warning, CAUT says:
Given the rapidly evolving political landscape in the United States and reports of individuals encountering difficulties crossing the border, CAUT strongly recommends that academic staff travel to the U.S. only if essential and necessary.
In addition, CAUT recommends that academics who fall into the following categories exercise particular caution:
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- Citizens or residents of a country identified in media reports as likely to be subject to a travel ban
- Citizens or residents of a country where there are diplomatic tensions with the U.S.
- Travellers with passport stamps evidencing recent travel to countries that may be subject to a travel ban or where there are diplomatic tensions with the U.S.
- Those who have expressed negative opinions about the current U.S. administration or its policies
- Those whose research could be seen as being at odds with the position of the current U.S. administration
- Travellers who identify as transgender or whose travel documents indicate a sex other than their sex assigned at birth
Academics should carefully consider what information they have, or need to have, on their electronic devices when crossing borders and take actions to protect sensitive information where necessary.
The full supplement to the CAUT advisory on travel to the United States is here. It covers the enhanced powers of US Customs and Border Protection officers at Canadian preclearance zones, the search of electronic devices, and other issues concerning travel between the US and Canada.
(via Jennifer Welchman and Samantha Brennan)
In addition to these concerns, one might also consider not travelling to the US in order to spend one’s money in the economy of one’s home nation, as opposed to helping prop up the economy of a nation whose government is attempting to exploit the rest of the world.
Then there is also the matter of choosing whether or not to work with those institutions which have decided to capitulate to Trump by sacrificing academic freedom. I don’t know where I land on this latter issue.
Just as there were no doubt such advisories about Nazi Germany. Folks, we are there.