The executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump to restrict travel in the United States is having an impact on the personal life of a University of Alberta student.
Saghar Sobhani moved to Edmonton about four years ago, after she and her family escaped religious discrimination in Iran. Sobhani is Baha’i – a religious minority in Iran.
Iran is one of the seven Muslim-majority countries on Trump’s travel ban list. The order temporarily suspends all immigration for citizens of seven majority Muslim countries for 90 days.
READ MORE: Donald Trump defends travel ban claiming it is not about religion
The 22-year-old and her family escaped to Turkey as refugees, where she met her boyfriend Sahab Masoumian. Masoumian is also Iranian and was also forced to flee that country.
Masoumian now lives in California, where he studies aerospace engineering, and has a U.S. green card.
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Sobhani, who has a Canadian permanent residency card, had plans to visit him in California but has put those plans on hold since Trump’s executive order was implemented.
“We were in shock and we were wondering what’s going to happen. We’re never going to see each other. That was hard,” Sobhani said.
“He’s in shock too. We are all worried. He calls America home, so he feels it more than me.”
She made the decision even though Canadian Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said permanent residents from the seven countries on the travel ban list can enter the U.S.
Watch below: A University of Alberta student is feeling uncertain about the future because of an executive order imposed by the U.S. president. Shallima Maharaj explains.
“Even at the border they are confused, and we don’t want to risk going to the border and getting rejected. He doesn’t want to risk getting out of the country and he may not be welcome back home,” Sobhani said.
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Sobhani wants to visit Masoumian, but she’s not sure when that will happen. Right now, she’s going to wait and hope the travel ban restrictions in the U.S. are altered soon.
“A long distance relationship is not going to work if you cannot see each other at all.”
The U of A student isn’t only thinking about her personal situation. She’s also concerned about the refugees who have been impacted by the travel restrictions.
“This is really horrible because when you’re a refugee you cannot get back to the country you’re from because there was a reason that you left if in the first place,” Sobhani said. “For me, we had a problem. I can’t imagine how hard it is right now for refugees.”
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