The recent U.S. travel ban on several Muslim countries is becoming a cause for concern at the Greater Victoria School Board.
There are 12 school trips to the U.S. planned in the next four months, involving more than 500 Victoria area students. At their Monday night meeting, the board will discuss the possibility that a local student, born in one of the countries covered in the travel ban, could get stopped at the border or detained.
President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily banning people from seven Muslim-majority countries has been suspended by a court order. But the situation is still a source of worry for some school officials and School District 61 could decide to rethink trips south of the border.
Audrey Smith, president of the Victoria Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils, says the situation is stressful."In this particularly tight time line, with many of the trips that are coming up during Spring Break, we've got two and a half weeks to make a decision about whether a group gets to go or not go. That would be greatly disappointing to the students if they are cancelled."
The school board's vice chair Tom Ferris tells C-FAX "I think the concerns are very real. Obviously we don't want to have any of our students being detained at the border and questioned about their country of origin."
The Sooke School District is also looking into their pending trips to the U.S.