Duke and 30 other universities have filed a friend-of-the-court amicus curiae brief with a federal court hearing a challenge to President Donald Trump鈥檚 March 6 executive order suspending the entry into the United States of nationals from six Muslim-majority countries.
The brief filed with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit argues that the universities are 鈥渁lready feeling its damaging effects.鈥
鈥淭he Order threatens amici鈥檚 ability to attract the best students, faculty, staff, and scholars from around the world, and thus directly affects amici鈥檚 ability to pursue their missions. Amici are experiencing the Order鈥檚 costs absent any evidence that all or even an appreciable number of nationals from these six countries鈥攁ll of whom already undergo significant vetting by the government before being permitted to study or work here鈥 pose any threat to the safety or security of the United States or amici鈥檚 campuses.鈥
The plaintiffs in the case, who are being supported in the schools鈥 brief, include the International Refugee Assistance Project. They are appealing a lower court ruling upholding the Trump administration鈥檚 executive order.
Read the brief here.