Muslim Ban: A Woman’s Story
“They didn’t say it with words but with their actions, that my life doesn’t matter”
By now everyone knows that Trump signed an executive order on Friday, January 27th mandating the deportation and/or detainment of immigrants from seven specific Muslim majority countries. Chaos ensued immediately after the executive order was signed. Refugees, immigrants and lawful U.S. citizens were detained and/or refused entry by airport customs officials across the Country and abroad, while lawyers hurried to file lawsuits and protesters gathered at airports.
Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen are the “countries of concern” according to Trump’s order. Although it is of note that there have been no attacks on American soil from any citizen or immigrant from any of the countries listed.
“We don’t want them here”, Trump stated as he signed the action.
Clemson resident, PhD graduate and Data Scientist, Nazanin Zinouri, was one of thousands of travelers caught in the turmoil that ensued after the order was signed. This is her story:
“Friday 1/20/17 started like any other normal day. I was excited about my trip to Tehran. After all I only get to visit them once a year. I was excited and anxious at the same time. I was worried about my little puppy but I couldn’t wait to see my mom…It was an uneventful trip. I made it home on Monday 1/22/17, after around 28 hours, exhausted but so so happy. We were all happy.
I was going to eat lots of delicious Persian food and make tons of great memories and go back to my life in the US. But the happiness didn’t last that long. On Wednesday, we started hearing rumors about new executive orders that will change immigration rules for some countries including Iran. Soon we started reading drafts like everyone else.
I might be banned from going back?!?! No that can’t be true. I’m not gonna let that ruin my trip. But then it got serious so fast. Before I knew it, it was actually happening. Even though I didn’t want to leave my family, I quickly booked a ticket to get on the next flight back. Only a few hours after the order was signed, I got to the airport, got on a plane and made it to Dubai.
After waiting in the line to get my documents checked and after 40 minutes of questions and answers, I boarded the plane to Washington, only to have two TSA officers getting in and ask me to disembark the plane!!! Yes after almost 7 years of living the the United States, I got deported!!!
No one warned me when I was leaving, no one cared what will happen to my dog or my job or my life there. No one told me what I should do with my car that is still parked at the airport parking. Or what to do with my house and all my belongings.
They didn’t say it with words but with their actions, that my life doesn’t matter. Everything I worked for all these years doesn’t matter…”
At the time of this writing Nazanin’s story has been shared across social media more than 78,000 times. Hundreds of friends, family and strangers have voiced their sorrow, outrage and apologies for the current administration’s reckless and inhumane policy.
Here is one of the messages left on her post:
Nazanin worked very hard as a PhD student for me for over three years. She was here on a student visa, and is now employed locally in Clemson. I am praying that this is not a permanent detainment, as it would simply be unjustified. 90 days? Really? Is our government really going to prevent a hard working, foreign national to remain away from her “home” for 90 days? Nazanin has made valuable contributions to the U.S. What are we doing?? I am so sorry Nazanin.
Thousands of other similar stories are also circulating that document the confusion, the heartache and the sheer panic that Trump has caused innocent people across the globe. The social media community has stood up quick to share stories, create support groups and provide phone numbers for legal council.
On Saturday, one day after the executive order was mandated, the American Civil Liberties Union stepped in and filed suit against Trump’s unlawful executive order. On Saturday evening a nationwide injunction against the order was signed in a court of law. This provides an emergency stay in order to investigate the legalities of the mandate.
ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero, had this reaction to the ruling:
“Clearly the judge understood the possibility for irreparable harm to hundreds of immigrants and lawful visitors to this country. Our courts today worked as they should as bulwarks against government abuse or unconstitutional policies and orders. On week one, Donald Trump suffered his first loss in court.”
This story cannot be concluded without mentioning that Saudi Arabia — where the vast majority of the hijackers from the 9/11 attacks were from — was not on Trump’s list of countries banned from entering the U.S. Other Muslim nations excluded from his ban are the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Turkey — coincidentally these are also countries where Trump has property and business investments.
By now everyone should be aware that this is not only unconstitutional, it is indeed a human rights violation and proves that Trump’s conflicts of interest have the potential to put human rights, and even lives, at stake.
Connect with the ACLU to remain updated on this issue as it continues to unfold.
