Students at the Penn Law School are helping to prepare a case that will go before the Supreme Court.
Penn Law School Dean Ted Ruger released a statement on President Donald Trump Monday, calling the Trump administration's executive order on immigration "antithetical to to Penn Law's missions and values."
The Order bars citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — all majority-Muslim countries — from entering the United States for 90 days. The statement comes a day after Penn President Amy Gutmann broke her silence on Donald Trump, denouncing his new immigration policy in a speech on College Green.
Trump's executive order is concerning for Penn Law students and the University, Ruger said. Penn Law is home to students from over thirty countries and is also currently considering applicants from several of the countries listed, who could be unable to attend if offered admission.
“As a world-leading research and teaching institution, we must engage actively with students, attorneys, and policymakers from around the globe in order to prepare our students to be lawyers and leaders in an increasingly connected society and economy,” Ruger wrote in the statement.
In his statement, he cited a conference this March that many from these majority-Muslim countries will not be able to attend and said that Trump's ban will “stifle the intellectual discourse to which we aspire.”
Ruger also outlined Penn Law's responses to the executive order. Plans include organizing a policy discussion on the immigration ban and related topics, keeping the Penn Law homepage updated with information about student and faculty-led activities and providing pro bono legal support for refugees and immigrants.
“I am committed to maintaining the intellectual culture we have built and to protecting the interests of this institution and of any individuals in our community adversely impacted by the Order,” he wrote.
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