Al-Monitor- When US President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning the entry of citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries on Jan. 27, travelers and families around the world were plunged into confusion and disbelief. The sudden and unexpected move disrupted the lives of people who have been endlessly vetted over years. Sick grandparents were kept from entering the United States for medical treatment, and an Iranian baby girl was initially denied access to life-saving surgery. Before the clarifications came in the days after the announcement, even green card holders traveling outside the United States struggled with the prospect of not seeing their American children for the foreseeable future.

Even though US District Judge James Robart ordered a national halt to the enforcement of Trump’s executive order on Feb. 3, the effects on academia in the United States remain.

More than 17,000 students in the United States come from the seven banned countries. In the 2015-16 academic year alone, Iranian students with visas to study in the United States numbered 12,000, with the vast majority enrolled in graduate degree programs. In the same academic year, students from Iraq numbered 1,901, Syria 783, Yemen 599, Somalia 35, Libya 1,514, and Sudan 253.

In interviews with Al-Monitor, students who remain reluctant to have their full names published for fear of reprisal from immigration officials at US borders relayed stories of anxiety as they contemplate being forced to abandon their studies.

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