Senate Resolution – 1617-04R
UNIVERSITY SENATE
UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
RESOLUTION: CONDEMNATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER ON
IMMIGRANTS
Introduced by:
Senators Karin Reinhold and James Fossett
Date:
January 31, 2017
Whereas the Executive Order entitled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry
Into the United States,” signed by the President on January 27, 2017, which bars entry to
United States to all people, including legal Permanent Residents and authorized visa
holders from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, prohibits
all refugees from entering the United States for 120 days; and bans Syrian refugees for an
indefinite period of time; and
Whereas such executive order is a discriminatory measure that unfairly targets people on
the basis of their countries of origin, a list of countries with a majority
Muslim population, in direct opposition to the principles of diversity and
multicultural inclusion of which this university is so proud of and the democratic
principles of the United States; and
Whereas freedom of movement, association, expression and communication are essential
for leadership in higher education and for the practice of academic research and
scholarship; therefore restrictions on the free movement of peoples are in direct
obstruction to the responsible exercise of educational and academic endeavors; and
Whereas the Executive Order poses undue burden on members of our community: the
students with families in the targeted list of countries, and the scholars with working
relationships in listed countries; and
Whereas implementation of portions of the order have been stayed by four different
federal district judges; and
Whereas the order is being contested in the judicial system by seventeen state attorneys
general and the American Civil Liberties Union, and has been found to be unlawful by
the then acting Attorney General of the United States; and
Whereas the Executive Order has been condemned by numerous corporations including
Airbnb, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Nike, Uber; and
Whereas 50 Nobel Prize laureates, over 18 thousand of scholars, 82 awards winners
including winners of Fields/Dirac/Clark/Turing/Poincare Medals, Breakthrough Prize,
Pulitzer Prize, MacArthur Fellowship and more than 440 Members of the National
Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Arts have signed a petition condemning the
Executive Order, because of its "unethical and discriminatory treatment of law-abiding,
hard-working, and well-integrated immigrants fundamentally contravenes the founding
principles of the United States" and was detrimental to the national interest1; and
Be it Resolved that the University Senate condemns President Trump’s Executive Order
and joins Interim President Stellar in support of SUNY Board Chairman H. Carl McCall
and Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher commitment and actions to support the members of
our community that are affected by executive orders, regulations, laws, and other federal
interventions that restrict, or will restrict, the movement of people with regard to nation
of origin, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or socio-
economic status.
Be it further resolved that the University Senate implores all branches of the federal
government to facilitate the movement across the USA borders of students, academics
and other law-abiding persons without regard to nation of origin, religion, race, ethnicity,
sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or socioeconomic status.
1 https://notoimmigrationban.com/
