IEHS Statement on Immigration

The Immigration and Ethnic History Society (IEHS) strongly condemns the U.S. federal government’s current assault on immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, international students, and international scholars. As members of an organization that promotes the study of immigration to North America from all parts of the world, we believe it is imperative to speak out against the government’s willful disregard for due process in carrying out deportations, the suspension of the Refugee Admissions Program, the unwarranted declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, the invocation of the historically fraught Alien Enemies Act, and the unfounded efforts to redefine birthright citizenship. These actions blatantly dehumanize immigrants and refugees, tear apart families, destabilize communities, undermine democracy and the rule of law, and impede any effort to relieve global suffering. As the scholarship of many IEHS members demonstrates, such actions have historically fueled fear, panic, and trauma among the members of already very vulnerable communities. They have also incited violence, xenophobia, and countless injustices. We cannot let that happen again.

As an organization that welcomes colleagues from all over the globe, we also decry attacks on members of our academic communities, including the targeting of international students and scholars based on their political beliefs. Schools should be a space for freedom of speech and freedom of thought—rights expressly guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Teaching, learning, and researching the histories of people on the move and the communities they establish constitute a central function of universities and are fundamental to the healthy functioning of multiethnic democratic nations such as the United States.

The Immigration and Ethnic History Society calls on the federal government to abide by the U.S. Constitution in guaranteeing fair treatment through the nation’s judicial system to all people, to uphold the nation’s long-established asylum process, and to stop the fearmongering.