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Trumps Immigration Executive Order Detains University of

Maryland Student at Dulles International Airport
Ashley Holder
University of Maryland

January 27, 2017 marks the date of Trumps Immigration Ban, prohibiting the entry of
citizens from seven countries, named by Obama as terrorist hotbeds, into the United States.
The countries included in the ban are Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Sudan, Libya, and Somalia. For
the following 90 days, immigrants and nonimmigrants will be denied entry to the United States,
including students of major universities pursuing degrees overseas.
The University of Maryland, home to over 350 foreign exchange students, is directly
facing the wrath of this executive order. One student, Aida Mohammadi, was returning to
Maryland from a trip to Turkey to visit her family when she was detained at Dulles International
Airport in Dulles, VA on Saturday evening. Mohammadi, who is a green card holder, was
traveling back to the states with her cousin Artiman Jalali, who is a dual citizen in Iraq and the
U.S., the Washington Post reported. After airport security held them for about five hours before
releasing Mohammadi at 11p.m. and Jalali about an hour later.
President of the University, Wallace Loh, followed up the executive order with a campus-
wide email stating that neither he nor any staff member or Prince Georges County police officer
will be enforcing the ban on campus. The email stated, As a public institution, the University of
Maryland does not normally take stands on political issues. However, we have an obligation to
speak out when government actions are fundamentally antithetical to the core values and
missions of the institution."
Loh added that the University will stand behind their students and listed all the
preventative measures he will be taking to ensure that students do not feel threatened by the ban
and can continue their studies in a safe and accepting environment. He was quoted in the
Baltimore Sun stating that the ban "poses human, moral, and constitutional dilemmas." The
University of Maryland, along with other large institutions, are following similar procedure due
to the severity of the executive order.

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