FAYETTEVILLE -- Two University of Arkansas at Fayetteville students from Iran have been caught up in the travel ban put in place by President Donald Trump, school officials said.
The university declined to release further details, citing privacy laws.
On Friday, Trump -- citing concerns about national safety -- signed an executive order temporarily prohibiting entry into the United States for citizens of seven countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. This has affected even those with a student visa previously issued by the U.S. government.
The university has 52 Iraqi students and 46 Iranian students, as well as nine students from Libya and one from Syria, according to fall international enrollment data. All but one are graduate students.
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In a statement offering support to international students, Chancellor Joe Steinmetz said "well over 100 people" on campus are affected by the ban. A spokesman said the number refers to both students and faculty.
Steinmetz' message, sent via email campuswide, did not refer specifically to any individuals but said the university "will be reaching out to government officials to inquire on the status of our affected community members and to encourage an expedited process."
Mohsen Dadashi, president of UA's Iranian Student Association, said he has a friend who studies at UA who flew home in December with his wife to visit family in Iran.
Now they are unable to return, Dadashi said. An attempt to fly back to the United States ended with them being turned away in a Frankfurt, Germany, airport. The couple now are in Iran, Dadashi said.
"We still don't know what they're going to do, because he's in the middle of his studies," Dadashi said, adding that the couple have been living in Fayetteville for about 18 months. Dadashi declined to name the student, saying he was concerned that if his friend's name was released, it might harm his case.
For other Iranian students, Trump's order means travel back home to visit relatives is now out of the question, Dadashi said. He's also been in contact with others in Iran expecting to come study at UA but who have now given up hope.
Dadashi said the desire to study in the United States involves a lengthy process for Iranian students, who must travel outside their country to be interviewed by U.S. officials at an embassy or consulate office. There is no U.S. embassy in Iran.
A background check that takes months then follows before they receive their visas, he said.
"It's not an easy process," said Dadashi, who arrived in Fayetteville in 2013 and is working on his doctorate in industrial engineering.
"We come here because the U.S. offers real freedom and also the opportunity to grow and be the best person that you can be," Dadashi said.
Douglas Rhoads, a biological sciences professor, said 19 out of 105 students are from Iraq in a cell- and molecular-biology graduate program -- the largest doctoral program on campus, Rhoads said.
"They have interviews at U.S. embassies, and it typically takes six or eight months for them to get a visa," Rhoads said. "They are vetted."
Over the last four years, the program size has almost doubled thanks to international students, Rhoads said, adding that for a research university like UA, the number of graduate students is key.
"The national ranking of our university is in large part based on the number of Ph.D. students that we have," Rhoads said, adding that growing graduate students is also one of the eight campus priorities identified by Steinmetz.
The cell and molecular biology program's associate director, Adnan Alrubaye is from Iraq and not a U.S. citizen, said Rhoads, the program's director. The group has scrapped planned recruiting visits to other countries because of the travel ban, Rhoads said.
Rhoads noted how J. William Fulbright, a longtime U.S. senator from Arkansas and a former UA president, worked to globalize education, with international scholarships named in his honor.
Steinmetz, in his message, called international students and scholars "a valuable part of our community."
"These individuals make important contributions to our campus, and impacts to this population most certainly have ripple effects on the rest of campus. We share these concerns and while there are still many questions that we cannot answer, we are focused on supporting all of our students and finding a way forward," he said.
A Section on 01/31/2017