Iranian student deported in chaos of US travel ban

Los Angeles: When Sara Yarjani handed her passport to an immigration officer at Los Angeles airport she was sure she’d be waved through customs, as had happened before. Instead, 23 hours later, she was deported.

The 35-year-old Iranian graduate student became one of the first victims of the chaos unleashed by President Donald Trump’s executive order blocking citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, from entering the United States.

Yarjani, who spoke by telephone late on Monday from Vienna, where she is a permanent resident, said her ordeal began shortly after her plane landed on Friday evening and unbeknownst to her Trump’s travel ban had kicked in.

“I had been on holiday in Canada to see my sister and then went to Austria and was coming back to resume classes,” said Yarjani, a student of holistic health at the California Institute for Human Science, located north of San Diego.

“I was not expecting to be stopped,” she said.

“I had previously entered the country and was treated very well ... and gone through customs within minutes.”

This time she quickly realised that it would be different, as the immigration officer took her passport and ushered her to a waiting area.

Yarjani said after nearly four hours of waiting and questioning, during which she was allowed no phone calls, an officer compelled her to sign a form agreeing to deportation on grounds, he claimed, that her student visa was no longer valid.

“The officer told me ‘you have two option – either you comply and agree to leave voluntarily ... or you will forcibly be deported and face a ban of one to five years or longer of reentry to the US’,” she said.

Yarjani said she became aware of the mayhem caused by Trump’s order when she was allowed a quick call to her sister to let her know she was being deported.

Yarjani said as she was being escorted by two armed officers for her flight back to Europe, she was able to briefly check her phone and learned that a federal judge had temporarily blocked part of Trump’s executive order.

“I told one of the officers that a judge had ruled against the ban ... and that I should not be put on the plane but all she said was ‘wowza’ while ordering me to keep walking,” Yarjani said.

She said now that she was back in Austria with her parents, she was still trying to come to terms with what had happened and considering her next move.

“I have worked so hard for the past year-and-a-half and it’s been such a long journey to get there and to study something I am really passionate about.”

She said university officials have been very supportive.

“Being stopped from entering the country to continue my studies does not make any sense,” said Yarjani.

“I was treated as if I had done something drastically wrong ... and I don’t think studying something that is aimed at helping people is a crime you should be deported for.” — AFP