OSU student’s wife detained for Trump travel ban is released

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 28: Protestors rally during a demonstration against the new immigration ban issued by President Donald Trump at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 28: Protestors rally during a demonstration against the new immigration ban issued by President Donald Trump at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

An Ohio State student’s wife who was detained at an airport in New York over the weekend has been released, OSU president Michael Drake told students, staff and faculty in an email Monday.

Mohamad Zandian, a doctoral candidate in biochemistry at Ohio State, went to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York over the weekend to pick up his wife, Parisa Fasihianifard, who traveled to the U.S. from Iran.

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When Zandian arrived at the airport he found his wife had been detained because of President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration. The order included a 90-day ban on travel to the U.S. from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

“While we acknowledge the importance of appropriate visa standards, we are very concerned about the broad implications of this new executive order,” Drake wrote in his email.

RELATED: 3 ways Trump’s immigration order could affect Ohio colleges

Drake said that the college’s Office of International affairs is available to assist students with concerns and questions. He also urged anyone at Ohio State seeking to travel abroad to first seek the advice of an immigration attorney by contacting immigration coordinators at iss@osu.edu.

“If you are a citizen of any of the seven countries affected by the executive order, we strongly caution against travel outside of the United States at this time,” Drake wrote in his email.

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