As an Iranian American myself, I have some empathy and sympathy for these heartbreaking stories but given the fact that all of these stories are of the American and Iranian elite within their respective countries working in prestigious first tier white collar careers, my sympathy is finite and constrained in all honesty. These people are of the top 1 percent of society and could easily opt to reside in a third or middle ground western advanced nation. Why don't they and what's so tragic about that? Give me a break.
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@J so are you saying you would support ending the ban on less educated Iranians, those not in the '1%'? Or do you find your sympathy limited for them as well?
Question the major premise: that these foreigners have some sort of moral or legal "right" to live here. They don't. Suppose this were Spain or Israel. Would Iranian temporary residents have a moral or legal "right" to live in Spain or Israel? Why is America different? Why does the major premise obtain only for America?
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@James Ribe Because we are the land of immigrants (unless you are native American). Because we consider ourselves unique and 'best' in the world. Because it's a case of religious discrimination against people from these 7 countries and that is unconstitutional. Because we need immigrants like this--our growth depends on immigration, our birthrates are too low to support an aging population--these people could literally help support you in your old age.
Why did you call them Iranian families if one spouse and parent is a U.S. citizen? Also if they were hyphenated in the headline, Iranian would be put first-why?
@Bruce Williams regarding the title, I'm assuming it's becasue it's the "Iranian-ness" that is the issue. Regarding the hyphenated description and the order, that's a convention, no? African-American, Chinese-American, Italian-American, European-American etc.
My question is, why does the order bother you?
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This seems no different from the bans on interracial marriage that we used to have. The people who support this belong in the dustbin of history just like the people who supported anti-miscegenation laws.
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Rather than complaining to American citizens and to the U.S. government, these Iranian citizens should be complaining to their own government As soon as Iran starts to behave like other reasonable countries, like stopping the spread of terrorism, stopping weapons shipments to Hamas and Hezbollah, stopping nuclear weapons research, stopping threatening their neighbors, then the U.S. will drop its sanctions, and these Iranian citizens can resume their normal activities.
OR, they can all go back to Iran.
It is ludicrous for them and the Times to blame Trump and the U.S.,
This is the fault of the Iranian mullahs.
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@G
Don't make me laugh. There is no set of circumstances that will get the US to lift sanctions on a country that took Americans hostage 40 years ago. This is vindictiveness pure and simple.
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@G But what can an ordinary Iranian citizen do? We know what happens to them if they complain, just like we know that nothing changes if we complain. Despots hold all the cards - unfortunately, still!
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@G It's clear you don't know how the ban was started. It had nothing to do with Iran's foreign policy. I think you are confusing it with the nuclear issue and sanctions. The ban was expressed as an internal security measure against Muslims. later defined to people from seven countries--Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syrian, Sudan, and Yemen. These countries have various and differing foreign policies, some not conflicting with US.
Also, these people have no influence over Iranian foreign policy. They are just ordinary people caught in the middle. Immigrants such as these have been admitted to the US throughout our history (e.g. Cuban, Vietnamese, German, and Russian-Americans). It's the change in policy that is the question, which resembles religious discrimination more than anything else to me.
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Separating families, it seems like that is what evangelicals who support Trump think makes you a good christian. Merry Christmas.
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Why are we so territorial about our country. It's a place. We live here, we don't own it.
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@Joe Yes we do. Visit Pearl Harbor. Visit the USS Arizona Memorial. Read about the Bataan Deathmarch. Yes we do. We own it. This is our country.
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Monday will mark the 6th month I have had to go somewhere else to get a haircut. The person that normally cuts my hair returned to Iran to look after her mother who could not get into the US for medical care. Her husband and two sons are left to look after themselves. Not easy when her husband works and the sons are in school. Even in Iran my friend was telling me of the problem they are having getting heart medications. Do people understand who is harmed with these policies?
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What am I missing about the other option for these American based persons? Why don't they relocate to Iran to be with their loved ones? If the pain from separation is that severe, then move to Iran to be with your loved one(s). Live there, work there. I didn't read in this article that there was a limitation on picking up and moving to Iran.
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@JP Well Iran is not a free country is it? Isn't that what America is supposed to be a free country, a land of immigrants. Unless you are a native American, your ancestors were immigrants who came to America to escape persecution.
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@JP
That is like saying the ban on interracial marriage in Loving vs. Virginia was no big deal because the people who were affected could have moved to Maryland and gotten married there instead.
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A good friend of mine, whom I met while doing a PhD in Europe, studied abroad in the U.S. where she met and married her husband. She had to return to Iran for visa reasons. During this time, the travel ban was passed. She was frantic and sick with worry. “Don’t worry,” I told her, “it’s only 90 days. Then you’ll be able to go back.” “Don’t worry,” I told her. “This cannot stand! The Supreme Court will definitely strike it down. It’s unconstitutional. This is not who we are as a country. America is so much better than this.”
As soon as the ban was (briefly) struck down the appeals court, she made it to the U.S. and to her husband. I’m so glad she didn’t listen to me. I was such a fool. Such a fool! The travel ban is who we are now.
I hope she and her husband are still together, and safely outside the U.S. At what cost- in terms of economics, human rights, everything- do we pass such illiberal policies that help no one and hurt so many?
But that’s the entire reason for being of the Trump administration, isn’t it? To hurt as many people as possible. To gleefully destroy lives.
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My nephew born and bred American married his love 2 years ago. She had always lived in Paris but her birth certificate is from Venezuela. She has continually been denied a visa even though she applied 2 years ago. Thank goodness they are very lucky that they have the means to see each other . She lives in Canada now by herself and he flies up to see her. My sister and her family flew to Canada for Thanksgiving. I don't think people in this country realize how many lives are being disrupted because of trump and his policies.This is not the America I love.
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Let's remember that many other families (e.g. refugees) are also separated, and many of them do not even have the means to stay in touch with each other like these highly educated Iranian Americans and Iranians. Family separation is real, and it hurts all around.
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All I can say to all these wonderful people is I am so sorry that you are being treated this way and so ashamed of the United States, its president and the Republican party. So many of us are so much better than this. I keep my fingers crossed for you and for the American democracy.
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In spite of the fact that the travel ban was upheld by the US Supreme court, it MUST be a violation of human rights to deprive LEGAL US citizens the right to be together in one and the same place with their spouse. Then again, this administration has shown time and again that just about the last thing it cares about are human rights, that is, as long as those human beings don't happen to be White and Christian, evangelicals to be more precise. I hope the 46th president of the US, whether s/he is a Democrat or a Republican, will have the decency to file a number of lawsuits against DJT and his henchmen and henchwomen for blatantly violating a host of human rights (although I am afraid this is unlikely to happen should that 46th president be a Republican, but one can always hope).
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Narges L's daughter said “I want to be a president and let people come see their kids.”
I can only hope our future leaders (the kids of today) remember these awful, hateful years. It will be the only good that come from this time.
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This policy is not only racist, it hurts the US. I had an excellent colleague from the UK. He was just about to get his green card after 6 years working at my company. 2 years ago he married the woman he had dated since they were both PhD students in the UK. After almost 2 years, his wife was granted a 90 day single entry visa that arrived about 30 days after issue date. My colleague gave up and went back to the UK to be with his wife. With 3.5% unemployment I cannot replace his skill set. My company is damaged, my US employees prospects diminished and my profits reduced. Surely if you want to grow an economy you want the best people to help. Utterly senseless vindictive policy making! Might as well ban people with chemistry degrees.
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