My Memorial Day was spent in the lab. As I was leaving, I read a text that broke me.

A fellow incoming student in my doctoral program had just learned that his visa had been refused. He wants to study the biology of protein aggregation – work that could help us better understand Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

Instead, he’s barred by my country.

A week earlier, the project I’ve worked on for the past two years was defunded as part of an escalation in this newest culture war. This is the America I’ve spent a lifetime preparing to serve.

I grew up in Indiana. I spent school breaks building barns and planting grapevines. My parents taught me to build things that last. My dad is a small business owner; my mom, a primary care physician.

I became a nurse’s aide a week after I turned 1

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