Hamiltonians of Iranian descent fearful of U.S. travel after Trump ban

As U.S. borders were closed to people from seven Muslim-majority countries and chaos reigned at airports over the weekend, Hamilton student Ali Yazdankia couldn't help but watch with bewilderment and dread.

Yazdankia is a Canadian citizen, but his family is from Iran, which is one of seven countries affected by the immigration ban handed down through an executive order from U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday.

Increasingly, the McMaster University student looking at a world he doesn't recognize one with more segregation than he has ever seen with his own eyes. His story, along with others, shows the ban is having a broaderchilling effect beyond those strictly affectedby the new rules. Some whoare still technically able to travel stateside have massive reservations about the current political climate.

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"When you're put on a list, people look at you differently. They treat you differently," Yazdankia said. "Canada was built on diversity. You don't get placed on lists but this, this is our neighbour."

"This is segregation."

I'm scared to go there to study law as a profession, and that is so contradictory.-AliYazdankiya, McMaster University student

Yazdankia is a fourth-year justice, political philosophy and law student at McMaster University, who is eyeing law school when he finishes his degree. Until this weekend, he was hoping to go stateside forschool.

Now, he isn't even entertaining the idea not because he's been physically barred from the country, but because he doesn't think he can plan for his future in a place where the political climate is so volatile to Muslim people, and changes so quickly.

"This puts a halt to those plans," he said. "It's a systemic barrier. It's putting blocks in my way."

"I'm scared to go there to study law as a profession, and that is so contradictory."

Confusion mounts after order

It's still technically possible for Yazdankia to travel to the U.S. but when news of the ban first broke, it didn't seem that way.

Trump issued the order early Friday evening, creating confusion for travellers over the weekend as foreign governments tried to grapple with how the rules would affect their citizens.

For Canadians, the U.S. State Department initially said the ban covered dual citizens of Canada and any of the seven countries Syria, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Somalia. By Saturday night, the Prime Minister's Office assured all Canadian citizens they could move freely across the border.

By Sunday afternoon, the scope was widened to include all Canadian permanent residents, meaning that Yazdankiya could travel, if he wanted to.

"There was just so much confusion," Yazdankia said. Family friends of his were actually on the way to the U.S. from Iran, he says, but were told during a stop in Amsterdam that they couldn't board the plane.

"It certainly doesn't feel very stable how could I plan for my future there?" he said.

'What rights will I have to give up tomorrow?'

Parisa Vafaei is another Hamiltonianwhose story indicates the ban maycreateproblemsfor Canadians with business in the U.S.Vafaei works for a software company, and was scheduled to go to Los Angeles next week for a conference.

Then her boss pulled her aside and said she would likely need to be extra careful. He advised shetake extra documentation at the border to make sure that she got in, even though she is a Canadian who has lived here after moving from Iran nearly 16 years ago.

"It broke my heart. It really did. For a second I felt like I was removed as a contributing member of society," she said. "I ama contributing member of society. I'm a global citizen."

Vafaei also worried about the slippery slope that these measures could create.

"If I let you see my phone at the border today, what will I have to give up tomorrow? What rights will I have to give up tomorrow?"

Rallies planned

The academic sector, which frequently relies on collaborative international research, is another place where the ban has caused concern.McMaster University, in step with condemnations from institutions across the continent,is calling the ban "misguided and harmful," and says it will harm international relationships and research.

McMaster University issued a statementMonday that's in step with Universities Canada and the American Association of Universities, calling for an end to the ban.

University PresidentPatrick Deanesaid in the statement that McMasterismonitoring the situation but added that had beendifficultbecause the ban has been "inconsistently interpreted and enforced."

"As an internationally engaged research intensive University, this abrupt change in policy has a chilling impact on individual scholars and their families, and on the important relationships we have carefully built over the years," Deane said.

"Our collaborative partnerships allow us to forge important research and educational programs and activities, which are threatened by arbitrary measures such as the one announced last week."

An injunction was put in place after Trump signed his executive order, marking the start of several expected constitutional and statutory challenges on the issue.

Students and Muslim leaders are staging a rally in support of the local Muslim community Monday, responding both to the U.S.'s ban and to a tragic shooting during prayers at a mosque in Quebec City on Sunday night.

The rally is scheduled for 6 p.m. at city hall to coincide with rallies in Quebec and elsewhere connected to the mosque shooting.

adam.carter@cbc.ca