Breaking rules could jeopardize student visitors
Regarding “Duquesne Faculty Group Takes Stand Against Trump Immigrant Policy” (Feb. 9): The naivete of the group’s proposals to university president Ken Gormley of total noncooperation with immigration officials is astonishing. Let me explain how things are in the “real world.”
Nonimmigrant students and visiting scholars/exchange visitors do not miraculously appear on campus. They attend because the university has applied for authorization to sponsor them from the departments of Homeland Security and State. The authorizations carry legal obligations on the part of the university, including the reporting of comprehensive and timely information about each individual to Immigration and Customs Enforcement through an automated system. The authorizations are revocable. Indeed, failure to provide the required information “without a subpoena” is a specific ground for revocation with respect to Homeland Security, and State regulations specifically require “cooperation” with any investigation conducted by either department.
Ironically, the adoption of the faculty proposals would actually place the students in jeopardy, should Duquesne lose its authorization, because they are required to be in authorized programs as a condition of their stay in the United States. GEORGE R. HESS
Green Tree for local police departments — stretching limited resources and placing additional financial burdens on local taxpayers. This repressive policy would also discourage immigrant populations from reporting crimes and cooperating with police officers.
I salute Duquesne’s faculty members for supporting their students — and urge the school’s administration to bolster this ethical and principled position with full institutional support. SEN. WAYNE D. FONTANA
Brookline
All of us in this country, except the native Indians, are immigrants to America. Therefore, we have no right to block entry to people who wish to come here, if it is proven they are not terrorists. Even more paradoxical is the fact that our president has banned people from seven Muslim countries but has not excluded people from Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the two countries responsible for the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 and killed thousands of innocent citizens. Among the seven banned countries, Iran has the largest population (80 million) and the largest army to help the U.S. to bring peace in the Middle East. In fact, this was the long-range plan of President Barack Obama.
Probably our present government is not aware of the fact that educated and talented Iranians have been immigrating to our country in large numbers since 1979 when the Islamists overthrew the shah and established a strong dictatorship. Most of the Iranians hate the hard-liner regime based in Tehran. And at the same time, the dictatorial regime in Tehran does not wish any relation
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with the U.S. In fact, they consider the ban to be a gift from Donald Trump.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the most successful minority in the U.S. has been the Iranians. They have made great contributions in science, education, medicine, filmmaking and business, to name a few. Therefore, for the sake of making America great, we should encourage more Iranians to come to our country and not to close our doors to them. SIAMAK A. ADIBI
Squirrel Hill
“The Lamest Generation” (Feb. 12 letter)? Not so. As a second-year baby boomer, I’m insulted that the letter writer characterized my generation as such. I don’t need to be forgiven for anything. He forgets that JFK got us into Vietnam and LBJ kept us there. My legacy isn’t fear and greed. My legacy is two tours in Vietnam. The ignorance displayed in the letter is scary. GREG SKAVINSKI Bethel Park