Dozens Rally for CUNY Doctoral Student from Iran Denied Reentry to U.S. Amid National Backlash

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SOURCE: NBC New York

URL: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Protest-Travel-Ban-Donald-Trump-President-Immigration-New-York-CUNY-Students-Detained-412153023.html

By Andrew Siff and Jennifer Millman


Dozens of sign-wielding City University of New York students and staffers from Brooklyn Borough Hall rallied Monday in support of a graduate student detained abroad because of President Trump's immigration order.

"Unify and defy," the 50 or so protesters outside the Cadman Plaza federal courthouse chanted. "No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here."

Others held signs with three simple words in capital letters: "LET HER IN."

"Her" is Saira Rafiee, a doctoral student enrolled at the CUNY Graduate Center through an F1 visa who spent winter break visiting family members in her native Iran, one of the seven countries affected by Trump's 90-day travel ban. Rafiee was trying to return to New York, to school, when customs officers in Abu Dhabi told her she couldn't go back because of the president's executive order.

"I had to stay there for nearly 18 hours, along with 11 other Iranians, before getting on the flight back to Tehran," Rafiee wrote on Facebook. She was able to fly back to Tehran, but remains barred from reentry to the U.S.

"I have no clue whether I would ever be able to go back to the school I like so much, or to see my dear friends there," Rafiee wrote. "But my story isn’t as painful and terrifying as many other stories I have heard these days."

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I am 100% sure that a CUNY doctoral student knows how to communicate via email and skype and other tools.  If he does not want a "break" in his studies, I am sure that he can find other useful things to do for 90 days.