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UK International Students Grapple With Travel Ban, Life 'Turned Upside Down'

AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Donald Trump with pen in hand.

With all of the international students affected by President Trump’s new travel restrictions at the University of Kentucky accounted for, attention now shifts to the unexpected, and often emotional, decisions those students will face in the coming months.

Shayan Moradi is a graduate trainee at UK. Having recently been awarded his master's, he hopes to transition to PhD work, studying cardiovascular health and nutritional science. And those well-laid plans were on track, until last Friday.

"The day that the order came out, I was sleeping, and my wife was so worried that when she woke me up she was almost bursting into tears," he recalls.

Both Moradi and his wife are from Iran, one of the seven Muslim-majority countries included in the executive order. Neither have seen their families in two years, but he planned to rectify that this summer – either by flying to them or bringing his loved ones to the U.S. Now he's placed those arrangements on hold indefinitely.

"Based on this new situation, I'm pretty sure that I will not go out of the country because if I go I'm sure whether I will be able to get back here," Moradi says, predicting a downward cascade of events. "I'm going to lose my job. I'm going to fall behind on my research. And everything is going to be turned upside down."

Further complicating his situation are concerns that the federal biomedical grants needed for Moradi’s research – some of which he says are limited to U.S. citizens and green card holders – could dry up under the Trump administration, threatening his admission into the PhD program. If that's the case, Moradi worries his years of study on how different types of fats affect heart health will be jeopardized. Amid the apprehension and confusion, he's encouraged by the reaction from some quarters on campus.

"The friendly feelings and the heartwarming sentiments and thoughts and all the kind of support that both my wife and I are getting from our American colleagues and... the administrative people who we are working with is really great and I believe that it helps a lot," he volunteers.

The atmosphere online, however, hasn't always followed suit. Moradi believes recent national events are leading to more discriminatory remarks, something he's witnessed on his small social media platform.

"It doesn't really feel good to be called these names while you're trying to do some sort of research that, at the end, is going to help American people to be treated if they have a specific kind of disease or... help save lives," he says.

For now, both Moradi and his wife are taking the advice of university officials and staying put while the school seeks to better understand the impact of the order.

And UK is far from alone.

The president’s executive order sent shockwaves through colleges and universities across the country, where the Institute of International Education reports some 17,000 students from countries included in the ban were studying in the 2015-2016 school year. The announcement left some stranded outside the country or detained, and others in limbo over travel plans. UK spokesman Jay Blanton estimates that about 120 UK students hail from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, or Yemen.

In a campus-wide email Monday, school officials said they are communicating with those affected while they monitor the ongoing lawsuits filed in the wake of the order. In the meantime, UK is advising those students and their families to refrain from traveling abroad.

The email acknowledges the uncertainty and heightened anxiety being felt on campus and concludes by saying, “We are an inclusive community where everyone - regardless of religion, identity, origin, or perspective - is welcome and should feel a sense of safety and belonging.”

Josh James fell in love with college radio at Western Kentucky University's student station, New Rock 92 (now Revolution 91.7). After working as a DJ and program director, he knew he wanted to come home to Lexington and try his hand in public radio.