Profs warned to avoid unnecessary travel to U.S.

WINNIPEG — Manitoba professors are heeding advice to avoid the United States for all but “essential and necessary” travel in response to rising political tensions and attacks on academic freedom south of the border.

The Canadian Association of University Teachers issued a travel advisory to members Monday over concerns about border searches that might compromise research confidentiality and autonomy.

Devin Latimer, a faculty member in chemistry at the University of Winnipeg, called the notice “sobering.”

Latimer said he has received numerous warnings to steer clear of active war zones and nations experiencing government collapse during his 30-year career on the downtown campus.

The organic chemist is still coming to terms with the fact the U.S. is now in the company of countries such as Haiti and Iran, he said.

“I won’t be going to the States any time soon because of these advisories, and I know lots of people feel the same,” Latimer said Wednesday.

The researcher has abandoned plans to attend Pacifichem 2025 in Honolulu at the end of the year, despite being an executive member of a group that is co-organizing the international conference.

Latimer noted that his research interests, including green energy, challenge U.S. President Donald Trump’s categorization of climate change as a “hoax.”

Faculty associations at the U of W, University of Manitoba and Brandon University have forwarded the umbrella organization’s message in recent days.

“Carrying a blank laptop (or) phone is advice that CAUT has given, and that has been mentioned at U of M’s senate, as well,” said Erik Thomson, president of the largest faculty association in Manitoba.

“I’m a bit skeptical about that one; it seems like a signal to border guards to take a look for something suspicious.”

Thomson was not aware of any incidents at the Canada-U.S. border involving his members.

However, he said the national group that represents professors from across the country has been alerted about people facing difficulties or being denied entry.

The Monday memo, issued three months after Trump’s return to the White House, strongly recommends that local researchers avoid non-essential trips south of the border.

“It is recommended that academics carefully consider what information they have, or need to have, on their electronic devices when crossing borders and take actions to protect sensitive information,” executive director David Robinson said in his email to faculty association presidents.

He urged scholars to take extra precautions if they identify as transgender, are citizens of a country where there are diplomatic tensions with the U.S., or their research could be seen as being at odds with the position of the Trump administration.

One of Trump’s first acts as the 47th president was issuing an executive order to terminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, including related grants.

The White House has flagged related vocabulary, including socioeconomic, disability and women. These so-called “woke” terms and phrases have been deleted from government memos and websites.

Sweeping cuts to post-secondary institutes have also instilled fear in scholars across the globe.

» Winnipeg Free Press