[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 18 (Thursday, February 2, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H917]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IMPACTS OF THE IMMIGRANT BAN

  (Mr. CARBAJAL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. CARBAJAL. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to tell the story of how last 
week's reckless and poorly implemented executive order indiscriminately 
banning immigrants from seven countries directly impacted two 
University of California, Santa Barbara graduate students in my 
district.
  My office was contacted by Hassan Arbabi, a Ph.D. student in 
mechanical engineering at UCSB. Hassan reached out to me on behalf of 
his girlfriend, Maryam Rasekh, who has also been accepted into UCSB's 
Ph.D. program for electrical engineering.
  Maryam, an Iranian citizen, left the United States to undergo the 
vetting process for her F-1 student visa in order to attend graduate 
school in Santa Barbara. For months, Maryam interviewed and underwent 
an exhaustive administrative immigration process.
  Maryam's F-1 student visa was approved on Friday, January 26, the 
same day the President signed his executive order banning all 
immigrants from Iran. The order prevented Maryam from returning to the 
United States to begin her studies.
  We have in place the strictest vetting process in the world. Banning 
immigrants like Maryam from pursuing higher education degrees does not 
make us safer. It prevents people like Maryam from making important 
scientific advances and contributing to our Nation.

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