First, he attempted to block people from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. He then wanted to complicate the immigration process. He is currently trying to hold migrant children in detention indefinitely. Families have been broken apart. The lives of thousands have been affected.
U.S. President Donald Trump has not stopped since he took the highest seat in the White House. His racism and Islamophobia have even put young students' dreams to a halt. One such student is Ismail B. Ajjawi, a 17-year-old Palestinian resident of Lebanon, who arrived to the U.S. after getting accepted into Harvard University to continue his studies.
On Friday, authorities at the Boston Logan International Airport deported Ajjawi after subjecting him to hours of interrogation. He was asked numerous questions about his religion and religious practices in Lebanon. Immigration officers even searched his phone and computer, the 17-year-old wrote in a statement. He spent eight hours in Boston before he was forced to leave.
His visa was canceled, and he was deported back to his home country of Lebanon soon after.
According to The Harvard Crimson, the college's daily student newspaper, university officials are currently working to resolve the matter before classes begin on Sept. 3.
"The University is working closely with the student's family and appropriate authorities to resolve this matter so that he can join his classmates in the coming days," university spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain told The Harvard Crimson.
Ajjawi was awarded a scholarship to study at the Ivy League institution via AMIDEAST, a non-profit organization assisting students in the MENA region. The 17-year-old has since reached out to the organization to provide him with legal assistance. Ajjawi has since returned home to Lebanon and is still hopeful to resolve his visa issue before classes start next week.
"Refused entry due to social media posts of his friends"
During the interrogation process, when Ajjawi's phone and laptop were unlocked and searched, one officer began questioning the 17-year-old about his friends' social media activity.
"After the 5 hours ended, she called me into a room, and she started screaming at me. She said that she found people posting political points of view that oppose the US on my friend[s] list," Ajjawi wrote.
"I responded that I have no business with such posts and that I didn't like, [s]hare or comment on them and told her that I shouldn't be held responsible for what others post."
"I have no single post on my timeline discussing politics," he added.
Though Harvard undergraduates rarely face such issues, four graduate students faced a similar situation back in 2017 following Trump's then-effective travel ban which affected several Muslim-majority countries. The students were eventually granted entry into the U.S. months after being stuck in a pending state.