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Iranian academics hit hard by Trump's travel ban

Beyond impacting travelers and their families around the world, the US president's move to ban citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from the United States has crushed academics at home and abroad.
Behnam Partopour, a Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) student from Iran, is greeted by his sister Bahar (L) at Logan Airport after he cleared U.S. customs and immigration on an F1 student visa in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. February 3, 2017.  Partopour was originally turned away from a flight to the U.S. following U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order travel ban.   REUTERS/Brian Snyder     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX2ZKDO

When US President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning the entry of citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries 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 Feb. 3, the effects on academia in the United States remain.

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