NEWS RELEASE

Mathematicians Challenge Provision of Immigration Bill

March 19, 1997

For more information, please contact: Sam Rankin, telephone 202-588-1100; fax 202-588-1853; e-mail smr@ams.org.

Providence, RI---The Council of the American Mathematical Society has passed a resolution "deploring" a provision of the "Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996," which was signed into law last fall. The resolution directs the AMS President and staff to work on challenging Section 641 of the act, which pertains to students and academics from abroad.

Educational institutions across the country have expressed grave concerns about the law, which would essentially require them to carry out, on behalf of the U.S. government, surveillance of foreign students and scholars. The law requires universities to report specific personal and academic information to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) about students and scholars of particular nationalities. Perhaps most vexing is the requirement that universities collect from these individuals a fee of up to $100, which would then be turned over to the government to defray the costs of the surveillance.

"Most of the provisions of the new law have to do with border control and deportation of undocumented aliens, issues on which the Society takes no stand," explains AMS President Arthur Jaffe. "We are only concerned about Section 641, which we believe would put the nation's universities in the position of acting as an arm of the INS. Mathematics is a highly international field, and the restrictions imposed by this new law could be detrimental to mathematicians' work with colleagues and students from abroad."

The law is to take effect April 1, 1997, with a report to be submitted to Congress within four years. The AMS will join with organizations representing colleges, universities, and international scholars, which are working with Congress and the INS to try to develop ways of lessening the burden the law places on schools.

The text of the AMS Council resolution follows.

Council of the American Mathematical Society
Resolution on Immigration Policy

WHEREAS the American Mathematical Society recognizes the great value of international contacts to the mathematics of this country and the world and;

WHEREAS hospitality to foreign nationals has played a large and increasing role in making such contacts, and is fostered by all major universities;

BE IT RESOLVED that the American Mathematical Society deplores the announced intent of the "Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996" to restrict visits by foreign nationals;

That the Council directs the AMS President and AMS Staff to work with other professional societies and with US universities and colleges in an effort to change or challenge the provisions of Section 641 of this act.

Resolution passed March 1997

Founded in 1888 to further mathematical research and scholarship, the 30,000-member AMS fulfills its mission through programs and services that promote mathematical research and its uses, strengthen mathematical education, and foster awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and everyday life.