See more in this letter from members of NAS, NAE, and NAM.
8 Likes
75% of US scientists who answered Nature poll consider leaving, as if things weren’t already going downhill for them.
Sad to see this. I noticed that there were not any people specifically representing engineering, physics or mathematics, is that because these fields are not affected or is it just because no such people authored the document?
Text search finds many such departments among the ~1900 signatories, though a large fraction do not list their departments or fields at all. But since they are all elected members of a congressionally chartered organization created to advise the nation, you can expect some skew in priorities despite the federal government not having a direct hand in their operations.
Thanks, I realise that there are such people among the signatories, but are they just showing their opposition to the scale of these DOGE related funding cuts or are they themselves experiencing such cuts.
Both. NASEM doesn’t represent all researchers (and everyone else) losing federal grants, but the members are not exempt from it either. The only notable exemptions so far involve acquiesence to political censorship and influence.
1 Like
Consider that NSF awarded 40% fewer grants this year than by the same time last year. Chaos, uncertainty, and intentional funding cuts affect everyone.
2 Likes
There are probably explanations for the disparity between different fields, but on top of that: Probably many people would not sign such a document out of fear of retribution.
As a legal permanent U.S. resident, the U.S. government has officially announced that I am subject to martial law, with the explicit threat of warrantless arrest, torture, and deportation, without due process. This threat prevents me from speaking out about these policies. Even in this forum, where I am a regular contributor, I would only comment on these issues with a temporary, anonymous throwaway account.
Incidentally, the same goes for the discussion about “Contingency plans for JuliaCon”: I do not think in-person conferences should be held in the U.S. under any circumstances, for the time being, but I would not feel safe in voicing this opinion publicly.
2 Likes
Thank you for taking the time to make an anonymous account and speaking what is on your mind.
Is this a threat at you personally or do you have a public source that you can link to?
1 Like
I can’t post links with this throwaway account, so I’ll just have to post the URLs
What I’m referring to is the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act <https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/invocation-of-the-alien-enemies-act-regarding-the-invasion-of-the-united-states-by-tren-de-aragua/>, an explicit wartime act that is being invoked on the flimsiest of interpretations (no act of war has been declared by congress) and the unprecedented misuse of the Immigration and Nationality Act <https://www.state.gov/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-and-guyanese-president-irfaan-ali-at-a-joint-press-availability/>, with Marco Rubio claiming that he can unilaterally deport non-citizens without due process. I consider the denial of due process to be the hallmark feature of martial law, and it has been repeatedly and explicitly invoked by administration.
Under the rule of law, as a green card holder I would have essentially the same rights as a citizen <https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/what-are-the-constitutional-rights-of-green-card-holders>. Specifically, I cannot be denied entry, nor can I be arrested unless there is reasonable suspicion that I have committed a crime. To revoke my green card and deport me, ordinarily a motion would have to be filed with an immigration judge, and I would have the chance to be represented by an attorney. If my green card was in fact revoked, I would have the chance to leave the country within a certain period of time.
There have been a considerable number of instances of green card holders being denied these rights. There have also been warrantless arrest of green card and visa holders, where the arrestees have been denied due process, and their documents were revoked after the arrest, for reasons that are far-fetched at best, and certainly not consistent with existing case law. A green card application requires hundreds of pages of forms and documentation, and there is not a single application where someone determined enough would not find some minor irregularity or or inconsistency. These are have then been used to justify the illegal arrests, after the fact.
I have no reason to believe that I personally would be targeted specifically (I have not been outspoken, politically), but nonetheless, I would be extremely concerned to go through a border crossing, knowing that the government has denied my rights to due process, and given the numerous examples of extra-legal arrests and subsequent disappearance, detention, and even torture of both legal residents and visitors during the last few weeks. There is no way to know what databases might contain incorrect information about me that might get me flagged: I’ve definitely had to deal with incorrect information regarding my social security and visa status in U.S. government systems. Depending on what systems get networked between the state department and ICE, anything is possible. Normally, none of that would be grounds for any kind of worry, but there has been numerous examples of such minor inconsistencies and “administrative errors” <https://apnews.com/article/el-salvador-deportation-maryland-man-trump-error-818a0fa1218de714448edcb5be1f7347> being used to justify non-proportional punishments.
There have also been reports of people being flagged for the simple expression of political opposition, both visitors <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/trump-musk-french-scientist-detained> and and permanent residents <https://www.vox.com/donald-trump/406199/ice-rumeysa-ozturk-tufts-logoff>. So I would certainly refrain from voicing any kind of opinion publicly, engaging in protests, or signing petitions.
Frankly, if I was by myself and did not have to worry about the livelihoods of my dependents, I would be making preparations to leave the country (despite having spent decades building a life here)
1 Like