December 17, 2025
Since August 2025, graduate worker Ehsan Rajabi and his wife have been stuck in Canada after their visas were unjustly cancelled. When they reapplied from Canada, their application was denied due to the June 4 presidential proclamation that limits entry into the United States from specific countries including Iran, their home country. Setting aside TRU’s general objections to this racist travel ban, section 4 of the proclamation clearly states that it does not apply to people with valid visas and those who were in the US already. Both of these exceptions apply to Ehsan and his wife.
JHU’s response to this discriminatory visa cancellation was to send Ehsan a list of things they would not do – so far, they have refused to provide him with adequate financial support, help with his legal defense, advocate for him through the university’s vast political network, or agree to an academic exchange. TRU has filed multiple requests for information to understand the reasons behind the university’s stance. JHU has vehemently objected to these RFIs and they remain unfilled.
Meanwhile, Ehsan and his wife have been in limbo for months, paying rent in two cities and incurring legal and other expenses without a stable income. JHU initially advised Ehsan to take a leave of absence, which meant that they no longer had to pay his salary. When approached about a possible academic exchange with the University of Toronto so that Ehsan could resume his research and start receiving a salary again, the university vaguely cited “sanctions” as the reason they could not process payment. They have even arbitrarily broadened the scope of the sanctions argument so that he cannot receive any form of academic support from JHU or his advisor. Now they are telling Ehsan that only after obtaining certain legal authorizations – which take months – they may be able to pay his salary, but he would have to cover tuition.
To be clear: JHU’s negligence in this case constitutes a violation of Article 6 of our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Ehsan’s case is also a warning to the noncitizen members of JHU’s community – the university will not stand with you if you are targeted by the current presidential administration. A university with a multimillion-dollar “democracy institute” and an endowment worth over $13 billion (and growing every day) is refusing to get involved when its own people are directly and disproportionately impacted by the rise of American fascism. And although some media outlets would like us to believe that Ehsan and his wife are at fault for believing that the proclamation’s provisions would be upheld, we know that the real fault lies with institutions that are too cowardly to live up to their own stated values.
Sign TRU’s statement in support of Ehsan: www.tinyurl.com/support-ehsan.