We write in the wake of the latest iteration of the Trump administration’s travel ban announced on June 4, 2025. The new policy restricts entry into the United States (with various exceptions and to varying extents) by nationals of Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen.
MESA condemns this measure, and the manner in which it restricts travel to the United States on the basis of national origin. MESA, along with partners and colleagues, filed a legal challenge against the 2017 Muslim Travel Ban, and is currently exploring options for legal action against this one.
MESA is committed to supporting our members and annual meeting attendees prohibited by the new Trump administration travel ban from attending the MESA 2025 Annual Meeting.
To that end, MESA will facilitate the participation of conference presenters from the countries included in the travel ban by allowing them to participate remotely. The MESA Secretariat will be in touch soon with affected presenters to make all necessary accommodations.
We understand that in-person meetings may present obstacles to participation for additional members outside the U.S. as well, and we will continue to think creatively about how MESA can facilitate participation. We will be providing international travel guidance for participants attending from countries that are not included in the ban. Presenters who are ultimately unable to obtain a visa to attend the conference, due to circumstances outside of their control, should contact meeting@mesana.org.
Fully hybrid meetings regrettably are unaffordable due to the exorbitant rates charged for labor and technology to create the necessary audio-visual capacity at our scale. Because MESA annual meetings are planned several years in advance and involve a substantial financial obligation to the meeting venue in the form of a legally binding contract, we also cannot switch from an in-person to a virtual format. The success of an in-person meeting depends on meeting in person to the greatest extent possible.
We are, in addition, planning to experiment with a new model for hosting a mid-year virtual research forum. This forum would provide an additional opportunity for MESA members to present their scholarship and join roundtable discussions from around the globe.
Finally, we have looked to venues outside the U.S. as we plan for our next open meeting year, which is 2027.
We are pleased to announce that the 2027 Annual Meeting will take place in Toronto, Canada.
As always, the MESA Board of Directors and TFCHR reaffirm our commitment to our membership, to continue to act as a resource in their defense, and to do all that we can to facilitate the exchange of ideas and knowledge production in our field.