The Arts Council of the African Studies Association is a non-political organization that exists to exchange ideas and proficiencies across borders.
As an organization we denounce the Trump administration’s executive order banning all refugees from entering the United States for 120 days on the grounds that it is racist and xenophobic, and thus stands in direct opposition to our mission. It blocks Syrian refugees from any access to the US for an indefinite period, and denies passport-holders from seven, predominantly Muslim nations – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen – entry into the country. This ban blatantly discriminates against individuals from Africa, the Maghreb, and the Middle East, affecting many members of our community. ACASA joins other academic associations in calling on the President and Congress to lift the ban and calls on all elected officials, regardless of party affiliation, to work urgently and vigorously to overturn this discriminatory order that limits collaborations with researchers and scholars from the nations listed in the executive order and violates US and international law as well as human rights on a global scale.
