TUSCALOUSA, Alabama (AP) — Samaebrahimi Bajigani and her fiancé Alileza Dorody spend the night celebrating the Persian New Year at the University of Alabama, with seven armed immigrant officers coming to their apartment before dawn and arresting Drudi.
Soon the lives of the young couple were overwhelmed.
“I was living a normal life until that night. After that, nothing was normal,” Bajigani said.
Details Doroudi’s detention Bajigani and Drody are spread across the small Iranian community of Tuscaloosa, where doctoral students are. Other Iranian students say they were informally advised by their faculty that they were “lying low” and “invisible.”
Drowdy is one of the US students who have been detained for several weeks as part of President Donald Trump. Immigrants control. Bajigani said the couple doesn’t know why Dorody faces deportation Trump’s recent visit The school made the university feel “ignorant of our crisis.”
One Iranian civil engineering student and Drowdy’s best friend said that Drowdy lost over 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) due to stress and depression in the six weeks since he was taken into custody.
“It’s like we’re all waiting for our turn. It could be every knock, and every email could be deportation,” said the student, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to concerns about losing his legal status.
He is now avoiding unnecessary travel outside. When he was in a car accident last month, he didn’t want to draw attention to him, so he asked other drivers not to call the police, even though he wasn’t negligent.
“I stayed with their permission.”
Bajigani said the 32-year-old Drowdi is an ambitious mechanical engineering student from Shiraz, Iran.
He legally entered the United States on a student visa in January 2023. Bajigani said he often worked 60 hours while making time to run errands for his loved ones.
“If someone like him doesn’t get to the right place for him, there’s nothing called the American Dream,” she said.
Doroudi’s visa was revoked in June 2023, but the embassy did not provide a reason and ignored his enquiries, Bajgani said. The university told him that he could stay as long as he remains a student, but if he leaves, it would not be allowed to re-enter the US.
When the immigration officer came to the couple’s door in March, he was active under his guidance.
The University of Alabama did not comment on the Doroudi case, but said it would provide resources to help immigrants on campus comply with federal law. It also provides guidance to students whose visas have been revoked.
“Our international students are important members of the campus community,” University spokesman Monikawat said in a statement.
Drowdy told Bajigani that he spent three days in the county jail and panicked after sleeping on the tiled floor.
He is currently at a Louisiana immigration detention facility more than 300 miles (480 kilometers) from Tuscaloosa, but is awaiting a scheduled deportation hearing next week. At least one There are famous international students.
“I didn’t deserve this. If they had sent me a letter asking me to appear in court, I would not do anything illegal, so I had their permission. “What was the reason why you put me in jail?”
Trump’s immigration crackdown
Over 1,000 international students across the United States Visa or legal status has been revoked Since late March, according to the Associated Press, according to a review of the university’s statement and a correspondence with school officials. They are included Some people have protested Israeli war in Gaza. Then there will be immigration and customs enforcement. These cancellations have been reversedIncludes four students from the University of Alabama.
“University staff are closely monitoring any changes that may affect them and informing them of updates related to new protocols and procedures,” Watt said.
A Louisiana judge who denied the Drowdy debt in mid-April has not fully proven that he is not a national security threat, Drowdy’s lawyer, David Rosaces said. Rosace said he was “superficial” because the government has not provided evidence that Drowdy is a threat, which is what the Department of Homeland Security argues.
The familiar sense of fear
International students account for more than 13% of the University of Alabama graduate programs statewide. School website. More than 100 Iranian students attend university, according to estimates from the Iranian Student Association.
Every year, many people gather for a picnic to celebrate Sizdah Bedar, the 13th day of the Persian New Year, starting in spring.
This year, a typical celebratory holiday “feeled like a funeral,” said an Iranian doctoral student. At one point, silence fell over the group as the police car passed.
“It’s become too difficult to live here and be yourself and thrive,” said the student, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
She criticized Iranian government She doubted since arriving in the US more than five years ago She’s no longer safe in her home country. Now she has the same question in Alabama.
“All of a sudden it feels like we’re back in Iran again,” she said.
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Riddle is a legional member of the Associated Press/Report’s American State University News Initiative. American Report It is a non-profit, national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms and reports on secret issues.
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