Associated Press: Uncertainty Surrounds Hundreds of Iranian Students Accepted to U.S. Universities

Hundreds of Iranian students who have been accepted to universities in the United States for further studies may not be able to enter U.S. territory due to uncertainties regarding Donald Trump's immigration order and its future. The Associated Press reported on Wednesday, April 9, that 25 major U.S. universities have accepted over 500 students for the upcoming academic year, who are citizens of one of six countries: Iran, Somalia, Libya, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Donald Trump has attempted to impose restrictions on the travel of citizens from these countries to the U.S., but his orders have faced protests in the U.S., and federal courts have suspended these orders. However, the Associated Press writes that if the federal courts' ruling is overturned or Trump issues a new order regarding this matter, students from these six countries will not be able to obtain U.S. visas and enter the country to continue their studies. The report states that the majority of these 500 students accepted by U.S. universities this year are Iranian, and Iran has particularly reputable academic programs in engineering and computer science at the undergraduate level. The Associated Press further notes the significant presence of Iranian students in U.S. universities, stating that of the 12,000 Iranian students who were present in U.S. universities last year, 77% of them are studying at the master's and doctoral levels, with more than half of them being engineering students. At the University of Central Florida alone, one-third of the 115 students accepted this year in civil and electrical engineering for graduate programs are Iranian. However, it is still unclear what fate Trump's immigration order will have. In this situation, some universities, such as Indiana, have announced that if students from these six countries are ultimately barred from entering the U.S., they will refund the fees they have paid for registration so far. Some universities also offer these students the option to defer their studies in the U.S. for a year. The Trump administration has appealed against the federal judges' rulings regarding the second immigration order. In this context, a Virginia court ruled in favor of Trump's order to ban the entry of citizens from six countries. Trump stated that if necessary, the immigration order's enforcement case would be taken to the Supreme Court. The Trump administration has appealed against the suspension of the second immigration order. A court in Maryland also ruled against Trump's second immigration order.