2017-06-16 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Washington, June 16, 2017 — Today, during a visit to Miami, President Trump announced a new executive action restoring restrictions on travel and trade with Cuba. The following is a statement from Jill Welch, NAFSA Deputy Executive Director for Public Policy.

“Regressing to past travel and trade restrictions with Cuba will only pull America back into a 50-year-old failed policy of isolation with the island nation and restrict our ability to learn from one another. For more than a decade, a diverse coalition that includes international educators has advocated for opening relations with Cuba. Harmful changes like these are a prime example of why Congress must act to codify the law and allow open trade and travel with Cuba and the Cuban people. Freeing Americans to travel and conduct education and business interactions with any nation as freely as we are permitted to do so with every other country in the world should not be a privilege for a few—it is a basic human right because after all, travel is inherently educational.

“Today is a major setback for international relations, NAFSA, our allies and the Cuban and American people. We call on Congress to permanently remove restrictions on travel and trade to Cuba by enacting the bipartisan measures introduced in the House and the Senate, the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act of 2017 and the Cuba Trade Act of 2017, restoring the freedom to travel, trade and learn.”

 

Sample tweet: .@NAFSA Opposes @WhiteHouse reversal on #Cuba policy. Congress must #EndTheEmbargo. http://bit.ly/2s9XYCF

About NAFSA: With more than 10,000 members, NAFSA: Association of International Educators is the world's largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education. Visit us at www.nafsa.org/press. To learn more about our advocacy efforts on behalf of international education, visit www.ConnectingOurWorld.org and @ConnectOurWorld on Twitter. Resources to guide our members on these issues can be found at www.nafsa.org/reginfo.