Foreign travellers to the United States are to be vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible, according to an executive order by US President Donald Trump.Credit: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty An immigration crackdown in the United States is rattling the global research community, with high-profile detentions and deportations of academics stoking fears even for travellers with valid entry documents. Foreign researchers who spoke to Nature are rethinking planned trips to the United States for meetings and fieldwork. And US scientists who are not citizens are weighing their own travel plans, fearful that if they leave the country they will not be allowed to return. 'The anxiety is palpable,' says Jonathan Grode, a managing partner at the immigration law firm Green and Spiegel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Grode says he is fielding at least 20 calls a day from clients who ask if it is safe for them to travel. Many scientists have been alarmed by several incidents...
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