“It’s very uncertain, I guess worse, because she’s very visibly a woman of color and Muslim,” Ceesay said.
Ceesay said her mother has faced scrutiny when traveling in the past and that every time there is talk of banning travel from Muslim-majority countries, like during Trump’s first travel ban in 2017, it causes problems. Ceesay’s family now travels less than they used to, she said.
“My mom is starting to carry her papers around again, even though she’s lived here for over 30 years,” Ceesay said.
Ceesay said that other students should try to have empathy and educate themselves on these global events, regardless of whether they are affected by them or not.
“I know there’s not really a lot that we can do here, but even just providing support for students who do have family that are either in a currently bad situation, or they’re not able to go see their family for whatever reason, it’s still a good thing to do, and we should still try to do that,” she said.
Some UNC international students have also had to alter their travel plans this summer at risk of not being able to return to the U.S. amidst threats from the Trump administration.
The U.S. Department of State announced on June 18 that it will increase screening and vetting measures for student visa applicants, including examining their online presence. This is similar to their statement on May 28, announcing that F-1 and J-1 visa holders and visa applicants from China and Hong Kong will face increased scrutiny. The Department of State also threatened to aggressively revoke existing visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in “critical fields.”
Students applying to enter the U.S. this year have reported delays at visa offices and have been subjected to ideological litmus tests — which gauge individual’s support for President Trump’s agenda – and extensive social media reviews.
An international student from India, who chose to stay anonymous due to their visa status, said that they did not go home this summer because of the instability of current government policies.
“As international students, we’re paying almost double, triple the amount the average student does here, and even the smallest mishap can lead to you losing that degree, that’s $200,000 down the drain instantly, so it’s something I didn’t want to risk,” they said.
The student said being away from their family has been hard and seeing their close friends get to go home has affected them negatively. They also said that they have been trying to avoid the media because it takes a toll on them.
The student also said if other UNC students took time to realize that international students are not outsiders with an agenda and they are just like every other student, they would have a lot more empathy.
For other students and faculty, international conflicts have impacted their well-being this summer.
Claudia Yaghoobi, a Roshan Distinguished Professor of Persian Studies and the director of the Center for the Middle East and Islamic Studies, said she experienced difficulties during the Iran-Israel war in June, because much of her childhood was spent during the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, and the trauma from those events came back.
Yaghoobi said that when you experience war yourself, and then witness war from outside of that country, you feel helpless.
“You want to do something, but you can’t, and sometimes we are paralyzed by those feelings,” Yaghoobi said. “And I was paralyzed when the U.S. basically got involved and attacked Iran.”
She also said another layer to that trauma is the survivor’s guilt. She was able to escape war this time because she was in the U.S., but some of her family members, friends and fellow Iranians could not leave the country. She said there are international students at UNC who also worry about their families in Iran and have connected with her and see her as their safe space.
Yaghoobi said those international students are not only experiencing helplessness but also have to worry about their visas, because if they leave the U.S., they won’t be able to come back.
“You’re trying to keep the communication going on because you want to make sure that you know what’s happening there, but also, even if you know what’s happening there, and even if something actually is happening to your family, are you going to be able to help them? No? The answer is no, so all the roads end basically in helplessness,” Yaghoobi said.
Yaghoobi also said there are many other countries experiencing conflicts, such as Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan, that a portion of the UNC community is suffering from because they may have family or friends in those countries. She said that as U.S. citizens, it is our responsibility to help international students and faculty who are not United States citizens.
“It’s so upsetting that I can’t have the freedom to travel back to my home,” Odeh said. “Though I’m a citizen here, there’s that internal connection of, ‘that is my land, that is my home, that is my people, that is my family.'”
Odeh said she was worried that the intercepted missiles from the Iran-Israel war would fall on her family in Jordan. She also fears for her family in the West Bank in Palestine.
In the proclamation of the travel ban, Trump said that the policies are intended to protect U.S. citizens and prevent harm to national interest.
Odeh said that policies like travel bans are not intended to keep people safe, but to constrain movement and cut people off.
“They shape our lives here. They decide whether our communities see refugees welcomed or vilified, whether our taxes fund health care or endless war, whether we can travel freely or be trapped by geopolitics,” she said.
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