Both Northwestern Hillel and Associated Student Government released statements Tuesday denouncing President Trump’s executive order barring citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.

The two letters listed resources available through Hillel, ASG and the university for students affected by the executive order signed Friday. Trump’s order prohibits citizens of Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Yemen and Somalia from entering the United States for 90 days — a timeline that could be extended with another motion — and blocks refugees from entering the U.S. for 120 days. The executive order prevents Syrian refugees from entering indefinitely.

“Our Muslim and immigrant peers deserve better,” the letter from ASG said. “As a community, we must take a stand against the divisiveness and xenophobia that the executive order promotes, while also continuing to provide resources and support to those further marginalized and in need of our advocacy.”

Hillel also published a letter that was sent to University President Morton Schapiro earlier Tuesday commending him for statements he made Sunday and Monday condemning the order and stating the University would not reveal the immigration status of students, faculty and staff. The letter was signed by Hillel student president Tamar Eisen, Northwestern Hillel executive director Michael Simon and Hillel International president Eric Fingerhut.

Simon said Hillel chapters at universities around the country have written similar letters to their presidents, either urging them to take action or praising them for the action they’ve already taken. He said Trump’s executive order resonated specifically in the Jewish community.

“For a lot of Jews, a very key part of our collective memory is the experience of the Holocaust,” he said. “There’s a particular connection to relatively recent history. There’s a particular resonance of this issue.”

Eisen said Trump’s decision to announce the executive order on International Holocaust Remembrance Day felt like a “slap in the face.”

Both Hillel and ASG will participate in a walkout protest Wednesday organized by the Immigrant Justice Project. ASG President Christina Cilento said ASG’s executive board timed the release of their statement to help inform people about tomorrow’s demonstration.

“We wanted to release a statement just to stand in solidarity with Muslim students on campus, international students, undocumented students and let them know that along with the number of departments and programs and offices that have expressed their support, we are also on their side, and we’re working to be able to support them on campus,” the SESP senior said.

Cilento said she’s been encouraged by the number of departments that have come out in support of Muslim, undocumented and international students. She said ASG’s executive board wanted more clarification after Schapiro released his first statement Sunday, but got it when he announced Northwestern would not provide information to the federal government regarding students’ immigration status.

Eisen said the executive order goes against her core beliefs.

“It goes against our values as Jews as people that were strangers, that were refugees, that have been marginalized throughout history, to see this happening within our own country,” she said. “To turn away people that are suffering on the basis of their religion goes against what we believe in.”

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @thejonahdylan