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| CUNY doctoral student, Saira Rafiee, was denied entry into the U.S. |
Dear PSCMembers,
The PSC learned
yesterday that a union member and CUNY doctoral student, Saira Rafiee, was denied entry into the U.S.
as a result of the executive order signed by Donald Trump barring entry for
legal, documented immigrants from seven countries. Saira was traveling
back from Iran, where she is a citizen, to resume her work and studies at the
CUNY Grad Center. She was in transit by way of Abu Dhabi when she was
forbidden to board a plane to New York and was detained for almost 18
hours. She has now been able to fly back to Tehran, but is still barred
from reentry to the U.S.
Saira wrote in a
statement this morning: “ I have no clue
whether I would ever be able to go back to the school I like so much, or to see
my dear friends there. But my story isn’t as painful and terrifying as many
other stories I have heard these days.”
Because of the quick
work of the PSC chapter chair at the Grad Center and several Grad Center
faculty and students who immediately notified the union, the PSC officers and
staff were able to work with the Mayor’s office, our national union, and
immigration rights attorneys in support of Saira’s case.
I urge you to call on
our Congressional representatives to bring Saira Rafiee back to NewYork and to
CUNY. As academic unionists in an institution where immigrants make up 40
percent of the student body and in a city built and sustained by immigrant
labor, we have a special responsibility to demand an end to Trump’s dangerous
ban. Click here to find the contact information of your
representatives, and email Senators Schumer and Gillibrand asking
for their intervention for Saira and all those imperiled by the executive
order. (On weekdays, use 202-225-3121 to
reach Congress by phone.)
Saira’s own statement
reminds us of what is at stake: “The sufferings of all of us [who have been
detained] are just one side of this horrendous order. The other side is the
struggle against racism and fascism, against assaults on freedom and human
dignity . . . As a student of sociology and political science, I have devoted a
major part of my scholarly life to the study of authoritarianism. It is time to
call things by their true names; this is Islamophobia, racism, fascism. We, the
99% of the world, need to stand united in resisting the authoritarian forces
all over the world.”
There may be other CUNY
students, faculty and staff caught in this executive order. Please notify
the PSC if you are aware of union members in
need; you may also want to contact CUNY CLEAR , an immigrants’ rights project
at the Law School.
And keep standing up and
speaking out for our members, our students and our city. Every collective
action we take builds the union’s strength to fight for all of us.
In solidarity,
Barbara Bowen
President, PSC
Press Conference Today
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