On Sunday afternoon, the Minority Rights Coalition (MRC) at UVa held an emergency march in response to Trump’s executive order 13769, more commonly called the Muslim ban, which prohibits citizens of the following Muslim-majority countries from entering the US: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
Thousands of Iranians, Iraqis, Libyans, Somalis, Sudanese, Syrians, and Yemenis can no longer return home to, say, attend a cousin’s wedding or a sister’s funeral without completely jeopardizing their hard-earned status as University students, medical doctors, mechanical engineers, etc. in America.
Speakers including Attiya Latif (President of MRC), Paola Sanchez (President of DREAMers on Grounds), and Javad Jarrahi (spokesperson for the Iranian Student Association) urged UVa administrators to break their silence and join the fight for equality.
Sanchez publicly condemned the Board of Visitors, President Sullivan, Marcus Martin, and Susan Davis for their complicity in attacks against minority students.
“No matter [who] the new presidential administration may threaten,” she said, “assure these students that they belong at this university and that this university belongs to them.”
More information on Trump’s Muslim ban can be found here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/muslim-ban-full-text_us_588be2d3e4b0b065cbbc150a
