We, the undersigned faculty of the Department of Linguistics of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, state our unequivocal condemnation of the immigration and travel ban enacted by President Trump on January 27, 2017, and affirm our support for our students affected by it.

Several graduate students in our department are citizens of the countries affected by this executive order; many others are citizens of other Muslim-majority countries of the Middle East. All of these students were invited to join our department because their applications stood out from others. They are full members of our department: teaching assistants, doctoral scholars, and friends. They belong here. The travel restriction interferes with their work as intellectuals and with their freedom of movement as people.

We likewise affirm our support for the many other affected students, faculty, and staff throughout the UW System and across the country, and we call on our university leadership to speak out in support of them.

Garry Davis
Fred Eckman
Nicholas Fleisher
Hamid Ouali
Hanyong Park
Sandra Liliana Pucci
Anne Pycha
Jae Yung Song
Tue Trinh