Students, faculty respond to Trump’s travel ban

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Aaron Rhodes

Editor-in-chief

arhodes2@jccc.edu

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 27 halting travel from seven Muslim majority countries in the Middle East and Africa. Several students and faculty members at the college are from those countries or know of people needing to travel to and from them.

Hamid Reza does not practice Islam, but obtained a bachelor’s degree in polymer engineering while living in Iran. Reza moved to the US two years ago and has been taking pre-dentistry courses at the college. He said he is heartbroken by the new travel ban.

“I know some people who are green card holders and after this executive order they will not be able to get back into the country,” Reza said. “Also, I was planning to go to Iran because my dad is scheduled for open-heart surgery this summer and because of this executive order I’m not able to go back and take care of him.”

The Muslim Student Association (MSA) has not met yet this semester, but Samira Hussein, the group’s faculty adviser, also knows several people who will not be able to see their families due to the order.

“I have been talking to people who are within my immediate circle, and there is a lot of chaos and confusion,” Hussein said. “People are very concerned, very scared. … Nobody had anticipated the suddenness of how this was going to be implemented.

Mariam Wadood, vice president of the MSA, was saddened by the news of the order.

“My first reaction was I was just really sad, because there’s the refugees that need our help and if we aren’t letting them in then,” Wadood said. “I know other countries who are happy to, but I think we have our duty to help them as well. I was sad, then I was frustrated, but now I think I’ve slowly started to accept it.”

Wadood said the group doesn’t currently have any plans in reaction to the executive order, but said they are holding activities aimed at ignorance this semester. One of those activities will feature a discussion on feminism in Islam.

“People think that Muslim women are usually oppressed and things like that and we’re bringing in a guest speaker to talk about that,” Wadood said.

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1 COMMENT

  1. From the Hinterland…
    The author failed to note that this is a TEMPORARY travel ban until the determine who is acceptable and who is not. 90 days is not a lifetime and this is not without precedent. A green card or visa is not a guarantee of admission to this country. The author should have reminded the interviewees that this is temporary. No since having ignorance out there. Nor is this the first time, Woodrow Wilson stopped immigration from Europe and Asia, FDR stopped Jews from escaping to the US from Europe, Jimmy Carter stopped Iranian immigration after the occupation of the US embassy, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama both stopped immigration from certain countries during their presidencies. In fact, Trump’s seven countries were put on the list by the Obama administration.
    In Afghanistan, women have acid thrown in their faces for daring to get an education. In Saudi Arabia, a woman cannot drive or go out by herself. In Dubai, a woman must put on a burka in the presence of a traditional male. In Iran, a woman must have three male witnesses to her rape in order to see justice. I fail to see how women have anything close to the guarantee of rights in the US.

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