Statement Condemning Trump’s Latest Travel Ban
Earlier this week, President Trump announced a cruel new travel ban that restricts nearly all immigration and travel for people from 12 countries (Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen), and partially restricts people from another 7 countries (Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela). This is the latest in the Trump Administration’s concerted campaign of attacks on international workers and families that only serves to separate loved ones, stoke fear, and disrupt working people’s lives and work.
UAW members are calling this latest attack for what it is: yet another attempt by the Trump Administration to scapegoat international communities – predominantly Muslim and people of color – and distract working people from the Administration’s efforts to gut healthcare, education, and other critical social services. It’s no coincidence that this move comes at the same time Trump’s budget bill is facing widespread criticism for the disastrous impacts it will have on working people at the same time it extends tax cuts for the ultra-rich.
Thousands of UAW members across the country are international workers who come to the U.S. to contribute to groundbreaking research and high quality instruction, and who are valued members of their communities. During Trump’s first administration, the first Muslim Travel Ban had serious consequences on UAW members, preventing some from visiting sick family members abroad, preventing others from returning to their workplaces in the U.S., and more. UAW international workers played a leading role in fighting back against the first travel ban, including by taking direct action, participating in lawsuits, and bargaining impacts and filing grievances with employers. Those efforts – along with the efforts of thousands of community members and fellow unions across the country – successfully halted the order and led to its eventual repeal under the Biden administration.
Like the previous ban and the Trump administration’s other actions targeting international workers and families, this latest ban is unconscionable. UAW members have already been taking action to combat Trump’s attacks on international workers, and are prepared to continue taking action alongside our broader communities until we win a just future for all.