Travel ban creates tough times for Iranian students living in US

World Today

Court challenges are keeping authorities from enforcing the travel ban ordered by President Trump, but it’s still an uneasy time for those who could be affected by the ban.

Visa-holding students and professionals are among those most frustrated by the order.

CGTN’s Hendrik Sybrandy spoke to two optimistic students.

Mostafa Abbasi and Rozhin Eskandarpour are post-doctoral engineering students at the University of Denver who happen to come from Iran. It’s not something they feel they should apologize for.

But they believe they were unfairly singled out when U.S. President Trump blocked travel from Iran and six other countries on Jan. 27. The order caused confusion at several international airports and deep concern on this college campus.

Eskandarpour feels like a prisoner who can’t leave the U.S., for fear of not being let back in, whose mother and father, who she hasn’t seen in four years, still haven’t been able to visit her here.

But just as Iranians protested the travel ban in Tehran, Abbasi and Eskandarpour have found that most Americans they know are also supportive on this issue.

“I got many messages and emails from my American friends. It was so great for me and I am proud of them,” Abbasi said.

The University of Denver has offered them counselors and immigration lawyers.