The seven countries from which travelers to the U.S. are temporarily banned. Credit: BBC

Mansoureh Shasti, a Kent State doctoral student from Iran, is currently stuck in Canada with her 1-year -old daughter. Her husband, Morteza Shakeri, hasn’t seen either of them in two months.

The seven countries from which travelers to the U.S. are temporarily banned. Credit: BBC
Shasti had traveled to Iran to visit relatives, and she was passing through Canada to pick up her approved visa paperwork last weekend. The timing was terrible for her family; President Donald Trump had issued a sweeping and immediate travel ban on seven countries with Muslim populations.

The Akron Beacon Journal reported on the Stow couple’s troubles. They’ve been living in the U.S. since 2011.

“We have never been separated — not even for one day in six years,” Shakeri told the paper. “I just want to have my family back together as soon as possible.”

The article, written by Marilyn Miller, underscores the many and multifaceted ripple effects of the president’s order. Shakeri explains the pain of having his family torn apart and being left with no recourse to reunited with his wife and child.

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This article appears in Jan 25-31, 2017.

Eric Sandy is an award-winning Cleveland-based journalist. For a while, he was the managing editor of Scene. He now contributes jam band features every now and then.