Though the Trump administration conceded defeat of its temporary travel ban last Thursday, the haphazard rollout of the failed Executive Order is still wreaking havoc on the lives of Santa Barbara area Muslims. School plans and career goals have been derailed, and futures once filled with hope are now clouded with dread. Trump’s promise to rewrite and reenact the ban this week has only heightened the anxiety.
“It’s amazing to me how fast this happened,” said Hamid, a UCSB graduate student from Iran, of last month’s sudden announcement targeting nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries. “In just a few hours, Trump turned our lives upside down.”
Hamid studies fluid dynamics, specifically how oil behaves in water. He and fellow UCSB engineers familiar with Santa Barbara’s coastline and currents played critical roles in directing cleanup efforts after the Refugio Oil Spill. Hamid, who wished to keep his full name private, had planned to remain in the United States and start a career after he graduates this spring. Now he’s not sure what to do.