Speech #CREC-2017-01-30-pt1-PgS469-2_t12

I don't want to get to the political mess that has created this situation for me and many others. I just want to share what millions of other people and I are going through, and simply what it feels like to be an Iranian and targeted to such racism and discrimination--things I have been very familiar with most of my life. I currently have a valid multiple entry student visa that I've used for the past year and a half and have traveled very smoothly (thank you Obama!). I came home (Tehran) to visit my parents and family. I suspected I would not be able to travel as easily as before with the new President, so I extended my stay. Here's the story of what happened this past week. On Wednesday, I woke up to the announcement of the new Executive Order by President Trump that would restrict entry for Syrian refugees and citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Yemen) for 30 days. As BBC Persian, one of the reliable sources here, contacted immigration attorneys and Politicians, this order was read and interpreted as, ``issuance of any types of immigrant and non-immigrant visas would be banned for citizens of those countries for 30 days.'' The President had not yet signed this order so the ban was not yet effective. I changed my flight to another one that would get me to Boston on Saturday night with a transfer in Qatar. It was rumored that the President signed the Order once I was on my way to the airport, and it was executed while I was in my first flight to Doha. But I looked on the White House website, BBC and Washington Post and nothing had been published yet. When I got to Doha, I was stopped at the gate for my U.S. flight. We found out that the ban (which is effective for 90 days now instead of 30), included everyone currently holding an immigrant, student or tourist visa as well as Green Card holders. We heard a lot of people were deported at the American border in different cities. About 30 other Iranians and I were stuck in Doha, waiting for flights back to Tehran. Among them were old couples trying to go and see their children in the US, 2 old women trying to be with and help their pregnant daughters there for their third trimesters, students who had just gotten their visas and families who had sold their belongings back home so they could build a better life in the US. All these people had gotten visas legally and had gone through background checks. The President had said that the goal of this Order was dealing with illegal immigration. Do any of the people sound like illegal immigrants? This will not secure the borders from the terrorism and illegal immigrants. It will only increase racism in the American society. The President is trying to make Islamophobia a norm and policy by which he wants to lead the country.