In his letter to faculty and students Sunday, University of Texas at Austin President Greg Fenves addressed President Donald Trump鈥檚 recent executive order temporarily closing the county to immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations.
鈥淚 am proud to say we have 110 students, faculty members and scholars who are citizens of the seven affected countries," Fenves wrote.
And that鈥檚 why, in part, UT student Navid Yaghmazadeh had decided to study at a table in the downstairs atrium of the Gates Dell Complex. Yaghmazadeh, 29, had typed up a sign, printed it out and taped it to the back of his laptop. It read: 鈥淚 am from Iran. I am a student. I am not a terrorist. I am not scary.鈥�
On any other day, students passing by saw a young man studying. On Monday, Yaghmazadeh wanted them to see something else.
鈥淚 just want people to see me as one of these people who are affected by this law,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 want to tell them, 鈥楬ey, we are like human beings all of us and there is nothing to be scared of about us.鈥� So, that鈥檚 the whole point.鈥�
Yaghmazadeh is from Iran, one of the countries included in . He is in the U.S. on a multi-entry student visa. Per the president鈥檚 current ban, for the next 90 days if Yaghmazadeh leaves the country he will not be let back in. The other countries included in the president鈥檚 temporary ban are Syria, Iran, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Libya. Refugees from all countries are banned indefinitely.
Yaghmazadeh says it took two months to be approved for his first visa. And it still astounds him that after applying for the second time 鈥� after he had already lived in the U.S. for 3 years 鈥� it took just as long to get approved.
鈥淚鈥檝e been here for three years,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 pay my taxes. I was here. I have all these friends. And it took them more than a month to find out if I am a decent guy or not. Wow, okay.鈥�
Despite months of vetting, for now, Yaghmazadeh can鈥檛 leave the country.
鈥淚 feel kind of disrespected.鈥�
He was used to feeling that way as a student in Iran.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 get the respect, I didn鈥檛 get the freedom which I wanted to have,鈥� said Yaghmazadeh. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have my rights in my home country.鈥�
So, he took a risk. He came to America to study.
鈥淏elieve me, it鈥檚 not easy to leave your country, to leave your family in your country and then you have to leave everything there and then come here, start a new life,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I chose to do that because of all these reasons. That鈥檚 what I鈥檓 here.鈥�
Those reasons? America represented something different than Iran.
鈥淭he U.S. is the land of opportunity,鈥� said Yaghmazadeh.
He was hoping his parents might see this opportunity first-hand, in their son. Yaghmazadeh is scheduled to graduate with his Ph.D in computer science at the end of the year. The ban on Iranian visitors is set to expire by then. But Yaghmazadeh isn鈥檛 holding out hope. He anticipates his parents will still be barred from the country when he鈥檚 handed his diploma.
鈥淚 work hard during all these years, missing them,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was like at least, in that day I can tell them, 'Hey parents the reason I did this is because of you.' But I can鈥檛 do that.鈥�
Yaghmazadeh鈥檚 classmate, Sepideh Maleki, 27, is in a similar situation. Maleki, who is from Iran and in the first year of her Ph.D in computer science, says her parents were planning to visit during UT鈥檚 spring break in March. But Trump鈥檚 travel ban would still be in place.
Maleki has not seen her parents in more than two years. She said it鈥檚 been hard to focus on her work the past few days.
鈥淚鈥檓 really, really depressed,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I feel unwanted鈥鈥檓 being called a terrorist. Not by people, but by the president. So it鈥檚 mixed feelings of being unwanted, scared and all those things.鈥�
When asked why she came to the U.S. to study, Sepideh said it鈥檚 because "everyone thinks and knows that the United States is the best country in the world."
鈥淵ou see all those immigrants that went to the United States and they all became successful and everything. I鈥檝e heard from my families, from my friends, that it鈥檚 not like that in Europe or anywhere else. They don鈥檛 accept immigrants that easily. But I鈥檝e heard the United States is different," she said. "They will accept immigrants. It鈥檚 a land of immigrants. So that鈥檚 why I came to the United States.鈥�
While Sepideh said she feels unwanted by the U.S. government, she said her friends have made her feel otherwise. She said after the ban was announced, they contacted her, offering support.
鈥淭hey called me and they鈥檙e like, 鈥榃e really support you. We鈥檙e sorry,鈥欌�� she said.
She said their words have made her feel welcome.
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