Last year, the AAA joined a number of organizations in urging the State Dept. and Homeland Security to stop denying visas to foreign scholars, writers, and activists based upon their political views, associations, and ideas. This practice of “ideological exclusion,” a legacy of the Bush administration, has slowly been showing signs of change. In January, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reversed a decision to deny entry to Adam Habib and Tariq Ramadan, two prominent Muslim scholars. Ramadan recently made his first public appearance since the ban to discuss building bridges with the Islamic world. The AAA continues to work with its partners to ensure that this practice is brought to an end.
Click here to view a copy (.pdf) of the letter addressed to the US Attorney General, Dept. of Homeland Security, and Dept. of State.
Filed under: Advocacy, Public Affairs
