Trumpm U.S. Politics / en 91³Ō¹Ļ PhD student detained for hours in American airport this weekend /news/u-t-phd-student-detained-hours-american-airport-weekend <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">91³Ō¹Ļ PhD student detained for hours in American airport this weekend</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-30-Ehsan.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=nXMDyTrl 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-01-30-Ehsan.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=fWFCB1Qm 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-01-30-Ehsan.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=HbYnoyCU 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-30-Ehsan.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=nXMDyTrl" alt> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-01-30T17:42:43-05:00" title="Monday, January 30, 2017 - 17:42" class="datetime">Mon, 01/30/2017 - 17:42</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Ehsan Alimohammadian was headed to San Francisco to present research findings at a scientific conference (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/noreen-ahmed-ullah" hreflang="en">Noreen Ahmed-Ullah</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Noreen Ahmed-Ullah</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/international" hreflang="en">International</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/students" hreflang="en">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/graduate-students" hreflang="en">Graduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/travel-ban" hreflang="en">Travel Ban</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/trumpm-us-politics" hreflang="en">Trumpm U.S. Politics</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>91³Ō¹Ļ PhD student<strong> Ehsan Alimohammadian</strong> was among those detained at an American airport this weekend, in his case for 14 hours Friday night&nbsp;before being flown back to Toronto.</p> <p>The Iranian native who has been at 91³Ō¹Ļ for the last 2 Ā½ years was headed to a conference in San Francisco to present research findings to a group of his peers on making photonic devices, using light for&nbsp;biological applications.</p> <p>Instead, he was questioned for hours at San Francisco International Airport&nbsp;before being asked to sign a form ā€œvoluntarilyā€ withdrawing from the U.S.</p> <p>Today, his supervisor, Professor <strong>Peter Robert Herman</strong>&nbsp;of the Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering, presented that&nbsp;research on his behalf.</p> <p>ā€œItā€™s very bad for the scientific community,ā€ Alimohammadian said. ā€œScience doesnā€™t have a nationality or religion. The scientific community shouldnā€™t be affected by a decision like this."</p> <p>Herman, who spoke to <em>91³Ō¹Ļ News</em> from the conference, said the United States is caught in ā€œan Orwellian world of ā€˜alternative truths.ā€™ā€</p> <p>ā€œMy opening slides this afternoon will point this out and call on&nbsp;American scientists and conference organizers to think hard about how to save their country from the present dangerous path. &nbsp;I am appalled that Ehsan had to suffer this poor welcome and want to remind him that America is greatā€¦at least many parts are. &nbsp;</p> <p>ā€œThe American attendees&nbsp;and conference organizers are uniformly appalled. It warms my heart&nbsp;to see that all non-American attendees I have conversed with have such a uniform view of Americaā€™s wrong path.ā€</p> <p>Back in September, Alimohammadian heard that his research paper was chosen to be presented&nbsp;at a conference for SPIE, <a href="https://spie.org/">the international society for optics and photonics</a>. His research looks at manipulating&nbsp;light to make photonic devices that have applications in DNA and sub-cellular studies.</p> <p>He applied for a business visa and was approved back in November.</p> <p>He cleared customs at Pearson Airport Friday evening.</p> <p>But while his flight headed to California, things changed on the ground. U.S. President Donald Trumpā€™s travel ban against seven predominantly Muslim countries&nbsp;took effect.</p> <p>ā€œIt was while I was in the air, I guess, that this became effective so when I reached California, my visa was revoked. I was escorted by two Homeland Security officers and they started to ask&nbsp;questions and search all of my bags.ā€</p> <p>Alimohammadian says&nbsp;the officers were ā€œniceā€ and fed him&nbsp;dinner and breakfast and allowed him to call his dad in Iran and email his professor at 91³Ō¹Ļ. But they began questioning him again at about 2 a.m. Saturday for another 2 hours and searched his bags ā€“ even after he agreed to sign&nbsp;a waiver to return to Canada.</p> <p>ā€œI couldnā€™t understand why they were searching through my stuff. The bags had already gone through security, and I already accepted that I will go back where I came from.ā€</p> <p>After the questioning, he says, he signed the waiver. He flew out at 11 am Saturday. Two Homeland Security officers&nbsp;escorted him back to his flight to&nbsp;Toronto. U.S. officials took his passport, and he didn't get it back until he arrived in Canada.&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 30 Jan 2017 22:42:43 +0000 ullahnor 104240 at