Life after immigration can be challenging. Especially, that is, if you’re from one of the countries on President Trump’s travel ban list.
One FAU student from Iran speaks about her experience of being a new U.S. citizen in the era of President Trump.
So you’ve immigrated, now what?
Life after immigration to the United States is not something that many people think about.
“The land of opportunity — once you’re in, you are set.” These are statements most American citizens have come to believe about newcomers who are in the process of immigrating or who have acquired residency in the United States.
But mmigration to the United States is a process that can take months to years, depending on who you are or where you’re from. “It took my family about 10 years,” said Florida Atlantic University senior Mayram Chaiatri, a 22-year-old immigrant from Iran.
Over the years, immigrating to the United States has become increasingly more difficult. And that was before it became the one the president’s number one issues.
“Before it was hard, but now is almost impossible,” Chaiatri added.
That’s particularly the case for immigrants like Chaiatri. Currently, Iran is one of the countries on President Trump’s travel ban list, which was initially dubbed a “Muslim ban” given that, on the campaign trail three years ago, Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Once becoming president, an initial seven Muslim-majority nations were on the banned list. When courts barred that, his administration came up with a new version that added Chad, Venezuela and North Korea. In June, that version of the ban was upheld by the Supreme Court, 5–4, giving Trump a victory he sought in his many-pronged assault on immigration.
As such, the United States currently bans five Muslim majority countries — Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen — and a small number of North Koreans and Venezuelans from entering the country on most or all types of visas, regardless if they have spouses, children, parents, or other family members in the United States.
“This ban has created issues for some of my friends in university and family,” Chaiatri explains.
With these challenges, the process of assimilation for people from these families has become more difficult.
Being from one of the banned countries, list she has faced struggles of not being able to go home. “It is really hard when the country that was supposed to be full of freedom is working against you,” said Chaiari.
“I do not think I’ll ever get used to Western culture” she said. Having been a resident in the United States since she was 14, she had to quickly learn the language and how to assimilate into American society.
“I did not know much English [at first]. I came here during the summer, and needed to work on my English and it was one of the hardest things I had to do,” she said. “It was a really hard experience coming here.” The situation became complicated when she arrived because her mother couldn’t come with her.
“Iranian culture is very family oriented,” said Chaiatri. Typically, families from Iran stay together and move where ever the family goes. “The idea of moving to a different country without each other is almost unheard of,” Chaiatri said.
Being in South Florida, there is not a large community of people from the Middle East. “We found one Iranian family, it was nice to have it, but it does not feel like enough.”
After President Donald Trump took office in 2017, Chaiatri noticed a palpable change in how she was regarded.
“After he took office, I noticed that people who never had been rude towards me because I am Iranian began to directly question my status,” Chaiatri said.
Life in college, however, is a different story. Florida Atlantic University is rated as one of the most diverse institutions in the state. “More people get it here,” Chaiatri said. “I do not need to explain myself as much.”
