A graduate student at Western Michigan University says the Trump administration’s travel ban caused him a close call. Salem Ba Saiwar spoke at a university-sponsored panel on diversity and inclusion on Wednesday, where WMU president John Dunn urged Kalamazoo to show support for community members from abroad.
Saiwar is from Saudi Arabia, but that country counts him as a citizen of Yemen even though Saiwar’s never been there.
“The system in Saudi does not grant citizenship for anyone who was born there even if they’ve been there for like two or three generations,” he said.
Yemen was included in the travel President Trump signed last month. That was problem for Saiwar. He needed to go to Saudi Arabia to renew his immigration status. But he wasn’t sure he could come back to Western if he left the United States.
“It’s like the executive order made me choose between my education and my family. And that was very hard for me. So I didn’t know what to do,” he said.
Saiwar says he was relieved when a court put the travel ban on hold. He made the trip and returned to Kalamazoo.
The panelists who spoke on Wednesday told the audience that the Trump administration’s recent moves on immigration have frightened many people in the community. But Western president John Dunn says that fear can be countered.
“There’s a lot of power in what each individual can do in reaching out on his or her own. To just make a commitment on your own to let our international friends know that they’re welcome here,” he said.
Dunn says he’s spoken with international students who tell him they do feel welcome in Kalamazoo.
