Clemson grad detained at Dubai airport; local Muslims react to refugee ban

The reverberations of President Trump's temporary ban on refugees are being felt in the Upstate.

Just hours after the executive order was signed Friday, Clemson University graduate Nazanin Zinouri said she was detained at Dubai International Airport after arriving from Tehran, where she had been visiting family.

"After waiting in the line to get my documents checked and after 40 minutes of questions and answers, I boarded the plane to Washington, only to have two TSA officers getting in and ask me to disembark the plane!" Zinouri said on Facebook. "Yes after almost 7 years of living (in) the United States, I got deported."

The president's order suspends the entry of all refugees to the United States for 120 days, halts the admission of refugees from Syria indefinitely and bars entry for three months to residents from the predominantly Muslim countries of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

In an email Sunday morning, Zinouri said, "those trapped in the airports are free now. Bad news is no airline will board any Iranian on any plane heading to the U.S. So there's still no way for me to return."

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Upstate Coalition for Equality has planned a protest for 4 p.m. Sunday at the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. The Facebook event is titled, "Greenville Welcomes Immigrants & Refugees."

The order hasn't affected any passengers at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, according to a GSP Airport official.

"We haven't been advised by any airline that they have had to deny boarding to any passenger," GSP spokeswoman Rosylin Weston said Saturday.

Clemson President Jim Clements sent a message to the university's community Saturday night.

"For those faculty, staff, and students who could potentially be affected by this Executive Order, we would advise that you defer any travel outside of the U.S. for the time being if at all possible," Clements said in an email.

The ban also covers legal permanent residents — green card holders — and visa-holders from those seven countries, the Associated Press reported.

"Nobody's happy with it," said Zafer Mohiuddin, president of the Islamic Society of Greenville.

While he isn't aware of anyone in Greenville who's been blocked from entering the U.S., Mohiuddin said the ban does keep Muslim residents here from visiting parents and relatives who are still living abroad.

"That's an inhuman thing," he said. "It's okay for us to have some policy that is equal and fair to all people, but you cannot be selective and say that people who are following this religion — we're not going to let them in."

Akan Malici, professor of politics and international relations at Furman University, described the ban as "manifestly un-American and a gross violation of our country's spirit."

Malici said the ban also makes America less safe.

"The president is playing into the hands of extremist groups like ISIS who want a narrative of a clash of civilizations. Trump is providing it and leading us all towards tremendous danger," he said.

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Abed Ayoud, legal and policy director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said they’ve received more than 1,000 calls by midday Saturday from people who have been stranded or detained in the U.S. and abroad.

He said legal immigrants traveling overseas to attend funerals and visit family when the president signed his order are now unable to return to the U.S.

Meanwhile, Zinouri's tale is going viral. Nearly 50,000 people had shared her Facebook post by Saturday night.

Nazanin Zinouri - I normally don't write long posts or any... | Facebook

The data scientist had left Clemson for her annual trip to Tehran to visit family in Tehran on Jan. 20. By Wednesday, "we started hearing rumors about new executive orders that will change immigration rules for some countries including Iran," Zinouri said.

"Before I knew it, it was actually happening...No one warned me when I was leaving, no one cared what will happen to my dog or my job or my life there."