An advocacy group representing Canada’s university and college professors is strongly urging academic staff to avoid non-essential travel to the U.S. amid an “evolving political landscape.”
The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), a group of independent associations and trade unions that represent 72,000 teachers, researchers and other staff at 120 universities and colleges, issued its updated travel advice on Tuesday.
“CAUT strongly recommends that academic staff travel to the U.S. only if essential and necessary,” the warning reads.
The organization said that academics who fall into certain categories should “exercise particular caution.”
Those categories include citizens or residents of a country identified as likely to be subject to a travel ban, those from a country that has diplomatic tensions with the U.S., people who expressed negative opinions about the Trump administration or its policies, and those whose research could be seen as “at odds” with the current U.S. government.
The warning also applies to travellers with passport stamps related to recent travel to countries that may be subject to a travel ban or have diplomatic tensions, and teachers or staff who identify as transgender or whose travel documents indicate a sex other than their sex at birth.
If teachers and other staff need to travel, the association also urges them to “carefully consider” what information they have or need to have on their electronic devices when crossing borders and to take action to protect sensitive information where necessary.
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“Travellers leaving or returning to Canada, particularly those travelling to the U.S., are increasingly vulnerable to preclearance zones and border searches that may compromise research confidentiality and academic freedom. CAUT will continue to provide updates as developments occur,” a supplemental notice in the advisory said.
“In the interim, the CAUT strongly recommends that members considering travel to the U.S. review options for remote attendance and travel only if necessary.”
It goes on to note: “Issues with respect to travel to the U.S. extend beyond inspection and search of electronic devices, given Presidential Executive Orders and the apparent application of a heightened ethnic and religious screening process by CBP officers.”
Last month, a French scientist was denied entry into the U.S., allegedly for expressing a personal opinion on the Trump administration’s research policy, the French education ministry said at the time.
A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said privacy restrictions barred the agency from discussing specific cases, adding that all people arriving in the country are subject to inspection on a case-by-case basis.
That warning comes nearly two weeks after the federal government updated its travel advisory for the U.S., saying Canadians should “expect scrutiny” when crossing ports of entry and the search of their electronic devices.
The government also warned that Canadians who are denied entry could be detained while awaiting deportation back to Canada.
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