New York - Madeline Sa'ada
Nazanin Zinouri, an Iranian PhD graduate, who has been living in the US for nearly seven years, was pulled off a plane headed to the U.S. following Trump's immigration ban.
Zinouri was escorted off her flight by two officers at a Dubai airport on Saturday after President Donald Trump severely restricted immigration from seven countries included Iran.
She published her story on Facebook, saying, "They didn't say it with words but with their actions, that my life doesn't matter. Everything I worked for all these years doesn't matter."
The data scientist, Zinouri, left to visit her family in Iran on Friday, January 20, and said in a Facebook post that she only gets to see her relatives around once a year, due to the 28-hour journey. She said when rumors began swirling last week about looming immigration restrictions, she booked a ticket back to South Carolina.
Only hours before boarding her flight, Trump signed an order that blocked immigrants from seven 'Muslim' countries from entering the US. Zinouri said she was questioned for 40 minutes and eventually pulled off her flight headed to Washington.
'No one warned me when I was leaving, no one cared what will happen to my dog or my job or my life there', she added.
'No one told me what I should do with my car that is still parked at the airport parking. Or what to do with my house and all my belongings, she said.