UMass Dartmouth professors detained at Logan Airport relieved to be home

TWO UNIVERSITY of Massachusetts Dartmouth professors who were detained Sunday at Logan Airport after returning from an overseas trip, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily banning entrance to the U.S. from seven majority-Muslim countries, released a statement on Tuesday saying they were relieved to be back home and back at work.
TWO UNIVERSITY of Massachusetts Dartmouth professors who were detained Sunday at Logan Airport after returning from an overseas trip, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily banning entrance to the U.S. from seven majority-Muslim countries, released a statement on Tuesday saying they were relieved to be back home and back at work.

DARTMOUTH – Two University of Massachusetts Dartmouth professors who were detained Sunday at Logan Airport after returning from an overseas trip, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily banning entrance to the U.S. from seven majority-Muslim countries, released a statement on Tuesday saying they were relieved to be back home and back at work.

In their statement, UMass Associate Professor Mazdak Tootkaboni and Assistant Professor Arghavan Louhghalam said they had always felt welcomed in America and described it as a country that has a “vibrant academic community” and “a place where the quest for science and innovation has been fueled by a diverse and colorful influx of creative and compassionate minds.”

Although the four-hour detention was disheartening and stressful, they said, they thanked the federal officers for kind and humane treatment.

The professors, both employed within the university’s College of Engineering, were detained, despite being lawful, permanent residents of the U.S. They are Iranian nationals and both are Muslim, according to the ACLU of Massachusetts, which filed a federal lawsuit to gain their release.

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“It is our hope that the national dialogue, ignited by our experience and that of many other immigrants who yearn only to pursue the American dream, results in laws and policies grounded in humanity,” the professors wrote.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey on Tuesday filed a motion to join that lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, according to a news release.

Her intervention comes on behalf of the state, as well as the University of Massachusetts. The motion argues the executive order discriminates against people on the basis of origin and religion, without sufficient justification and violates the U.S. Constitution, according to a statement.

“The president’s executive order is a threat to our constitution. Rather than protecting our national security, it stigmatizes those who would lawfully emigrate to our state,” she said. “With this policy, our global universities, hospitals, businesses and startups, and far too many students and residents have been put at risk. On behalf of the Commonwealth, my office is challenging the immigration ban to hold this administration accountable for its un-American, discriminatory and reckless decision-making.”

Massachusetts in 2015 accepted nearly 900 new refugees and asylum seekers from the countries identified in the executive order, according to Healey’s motion.

Trump has repeatedly said his executive order is not a ban against Muslims, but a step against countries that need additional vetting for immigrants or refugees to be admitted.

He has suspended the acceptance of Syrian refugees indefinitely, and is limiting the acceptance of all refugees in fiscal 2017 to fewer than 50,000. In an introductory statement, his order said the steps are required to protect Americans.

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