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Clemson grad denied entry into U.S. after President Trump's ban

CLEMSON, S.C. — A recent Clemson graduate said she has found herself stuck in Iran after living in the U.S. for seven years.

[Click here to read more on President Trump's immigration ban]

In a viral Facebook post, Nazanin Zinouri said she was given no warning when she flew to visit family in Iran a few days ago that she wouldn't be able to come back.

According to the Facebook post, Zinouri, who graduated from Clemson in 2016 with a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering, won the university's Janine Anthony Bowen Graduate Fellow Award last year, was removed from her flight bound for the United States.

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(Nazanin Zinouri (left) was a 2016 Janine Anthony Bowen '89 Industrial Engineering Endowment award winner.)

Zinouri explained in the post that she flew to Iran to visit family and a few days later discovered that President Trump signed an executive order barring individuals from Syria, Iran, Libya, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan and Somalia from entering the U.S. for 90 days.

"After waiting in the line to get my documents checked and after 40 minutes of questions and answers, I boarded the plane to Washington [D.C.], only to have two TSA officers getting in and ask me to disembark the plane!!! Yes after almost 7 years of living the United States, I got deported!!!” the post said.

Although a federal judge granted an emergency stay Saturday night, the stay only helps those who are already on U.S. soil.

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According to her Facebook account, Zinouri is originally from Tehran, Iran. She currently works at industrial company Modjoul in the Greenville area.

Channel 9's sister station, WLOS, spoke with a representative from Modjoul who said it was "incomprehensible" that one of their employees could not return to the U.S. because of the ban.

“No one warned me when I was leaving,” the post said. “No one cared what will happen to my dog or my job or my life there. 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.”

Clemson University President Jim Clements sent a statement to the campus Saturday night regarding the overall situation for faculty, staff and students from the countries listed in Trump's order.

"We would advise that you defer any travel outside of the U.S. for the time being if at all possible," the statement said. "Our international students, faculty and staff are important members of our university community. We will continue to monitor this rapidly evolving situation and keep the university community updated as more information becomes available."

I normally don't write long posts or any kind of political or religious comments. I apologize in advance and I don't...

Posted by Nazanin Zinouri on Saturday, January 28, 2017

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