August 29, 2019

The Honorable Michael R. Pompeo
United States Secretary of State
Office of the Secretary, United States Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary Pompeo:
As President of Arizona State University, I am writing to express my serious concern about
actions taken by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the Los Angeles International Airport
(LAX) to deny admission to the United States to nine ASU undergraduate students from China
who were returning to the U.S. for the fall semester. In each case, the students were in
possession of all needed documentation to enter the U.S. yet they were refused entry at the
airport, told they needed to return to China, that they needed to pay for their own airline ticket to
do so or face a ban from re-entering the U.S. for five years.
We will be glad to provide the U.S. Department of State with a document summarizing the dates
and other information regarding the ASU students from China who have been denied entry to
the U.S. We have requested permission from the students to release detailed information to you
about their particular cases. Three students currently have granted ASU permission to do so.
Given the treatment the students have already experienced, the others are concerned about
releasing their information for fear that CBP or other agencies of the federal government will
take retaliatory action against them. The experience of our nine students seems to be mirrored
by the experience of the Harvard University student who was profiled in the Washington Post
two days ago.
Accordingly, I am writing not only to request immediate review of the individual situations of
each of our students but also an immediate review of the new “standard procedures” which
have apparently been put in place to review the electronic devices carried by our students when
they enter the U.S. In our country, where we value due process and celebrate the different ways
in which our government behaves from that of the arbitrary and capricious behavior of other
nations, it is beyond my comprehension how the U.S. government could establish and
implement policies that bring about the outcomes we are now witnessing. I would also like to
request the following:
1. A written explanation of the new “standard procedures” for the screening of international
students upon their arrival at LAX? Who is doing the screening? What training have
they received? Do they speak Mandarin? What are the objective criteria they are using
to refuse entry to students?
2. The ability of ASU to talk with and provide ASU international students who enter the U.S.
at LAX with assistance when they are being detained or denied access to the U.S.
3. A summary of the number and circumstances for denials for entry into the U.S. for
Chinese students entering the U.S. at LAX over the past ninety days.

 4. A contact for an official at CBP with whom ASU can communicate and engage on all
matters related to the denial of entry of our students into the U.S.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter which is of significant importance to ASU and all
other institutions of higher education in the United States. I look forward to your prompt
response to my letter.
Sincerely,

Michael M. Crow
President

cc:

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan
U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema
U.S. Senator Martha McSally
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey
Peter McPherson, President of APLU