We, the undersigned, urge you to (1) allow for hybrid participation at this year’s Annual Meeting; (2) to approve full reimbursement of conference fees for those who no longer feel able to participate in the conference; and finally, (3) to circulate a list of immigration lawyers that those travelling to the US could turn to in case of emergency.
(1) - considering the changes in border enforcement in the US, travel to the conference has become exceptionally risky for many scholars working on ‘controversial’ topics (whether gender, Palestine, or environmental law); and for scholars of colour and those with passports from the countries from the Global South. There are reports of academics being detained, their electronic devices being searched and their visas being revoked. In addition to the extreme stress of confronting borders managed in this way, refusal of entry and subsequent removal can have long-term consequences for those of us who need visas to travel. Hybrid participation would enable those who no longer feel able to travel to the US, because of very real and legitimate safety concerns, to still present their work. This opportunity might be particularly significant for early career researchers, or those from the Global South. We realise hybrid participation might pose a technical challenge and require additional labour, but many of those who have signed this letter are also panel chairs and hereby signal our willingness to help facilitate this move.
(2) - there are however limits to hybrid participation, and for those who present research in this way some of the key benefits of attending conferences are unavailable (such as networking, informal feedback, or simply socialising). Considering the cost of the registration fees and the relentless cuts to research budgets at most institutions outside of the US, individuals may feel that they would prefer to simply withdraw and attend a different conference in-person instead. We ask that fees be fully refunded for those who no longer feel able to attend. Partial refunds mean that individuals might be forced to cover the difference out of pocket (in order to reimburse their University fully), depending on their employer’s policies. This would mean that those who are made particularly vulnerable by the border regime would also be forced to shoulder the cost of the rising fascism, something we feel is unacceptable. It would also likely disproportionately impact ECRs, as they tend to attend conferences for a host of reasons beyond just presenting their work. There is precedent for full refunds, which were given for the 2020 Denver conference, to those who decided not to participate online. We would argue that the current political climate is at least as dangerous as the pandemic was, and that the response to it should therefore be as extensive.
(3) - finally, we think that it is essential to have support in place for those who decide to still attend. Circulating information about organisations and lawyers who could support individuals in cases of emergency would be a crucial way of doing this. Organising a fund that the members could contribute to, to cover any fees incurred by those who cannot afford to cover them out of pocket, would further ensure that colleagues are not left dealing alone with violence that concerns us all.
We want to end this open letter by expressing our thanks to the organising committee for all the work they have done: we know how much invisible labour goes into putting together an event of this scale, and how many moving parts there are. We also recognise that the organisers themselves will have been impacted by the political situation in the US in different ways, and our intention in writing this letter is not to add to stress or anxiety of the present moment. It is simply to ensure that the voices of those outside of the US are heard, and that the concerns of those made particularly vulnerable by the current political climate are taken seriously and foregrounded.
In solidarity,
