Fear spreads among Muslim Americans as Trump travel ban looms

Nadiah Alyafai is bracing for four years of missed memories, birthdays, and holidays. 

Since she was young, the now 22-year-old has traveled to her father’s native country of Yemen every few years to see family. Her grandparents, aunts and uncles who live there frequently travel to the United States, too, and some have legal residency here, Alyafai said.  

But, as President Donald Trump considers sweeping travel restrictions for citizens of more than a dozen countries, Alyafai fears that her family soon won’t be able to come and visit and that her father, who became a legal permanent resident of the U.S. more than two decades ago, won’t be able to return home to Chicago if he travels outside the country. 

“If my grandparents passed away in Yemen and we weren't able to see them one last time . . . there's no words,” Alyafai said. “It's heartbreaking.”   

A draft version of the Trump administration proposal to prohibit and limit citizens of more than 40 countries from entering the United States leaked in early March. The White House said Thursday that it had not yet made a decision on the policy.  

More than a half dozen advocates told USA TODAY that anticipation of the new restrictions, along with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s recent detainment of multiple college students from majority-Muslim countries, has led to a climate of rampant anxiety among the American Muslim community. 

The fear isn’t only spreading among those with family living abroad.  

“U.S. citizens are afraid to travel overseas, believing there’s a possibility they will be prevented by the Trump administration to return, especially if they’re traveling to Muslim countries,” said Robert McCaw, the government affairs director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, America’s largest Muslim civil rights organization.  

A cloud of 'paranoia' and 'fear'

Muslim affinity organizations across the U.S. say they are inundated with inquiries from members terrified about the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

“A lot of people are paranoid and worried,” said Zahra Billoo, executive director of CAIR’s office in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

One member who has a visa to be in the U.S. delayed their wedding abroad out of concerns that they wouldn’t be able to come back if they traveled outside of the U.S., Billoo said. The person was from one of more than two dozen countries on the list Trump is considering. 

Most organizations USA TODAY reached out to said their members were afraid to share stories - even anonymously - out of fear of retribution from the administration or strangers online. 

Haris Tarin, vice president at the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said he has never seen such a level of trepidation in his more than two decades of advocacy. He believes some of the alarm is in response to the recent arrests of several college students with valid visas who participated in pro-Palestinian protests.   

Earlier in March, immigration officials detained and targeted Columbia University Student Mahmoud Khalil for deportation over his participation in protests over the war in Gaza. Since then, other students from Muslim-majority countries across U.S. universities have been similarly taken into custody, including 30-year-old Turkish national Rumeysa Ozturkat at Tuft’s University and Iranian student Alireza Doroudi at the University of Alabama. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday the State Department has possibly revoked more than 300 student and visitor visas since Trump took office in mid-January. Rubio said the White House would revoke legal visas for anyone who vandalizes universities and participated in activities that created a “ruckus.” He did not say whether the cases of several students already detained fit that criteria. 

“This should be scary for every single American,” Tarin said about the arrests. “This is just a start, and no American is safe from having their free speech impacted.” 

First Amendment concerns grow

He and other advocates have expressed mixed concerns about whether the arrests, along with Trump’s other immigration policies, could dissuade people from speaking out against the administration.  

Dr. Mahmoud Al-Hadidi, chair of the Michigan Muslim Community Council, said some of his members “feel that the freedom of speech is not a complete freedom of speech at this time.”   

Zaid Yousef, a University of California Berkeley law student and president of the school’s Muslim Student Association, said the recent detainments have caused a resurgence in student protest movements.  

“The protests we had two weeks ago . . . had a way bigger turnout than some of the ones we had before Trump took office,” Yousef, 21, said. But he added that there is a heightened sense of caution among students on visas. 

For many, the anticipated restrictions are reminiscent of bans Trump implemented on travelers from seven majority-Muslim nations during his first term. Trump issued multiple versions of those policies in 2017 and faced numerous lawsuits over them. One was  upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.   

The policy currently under consideration by the White House is expected to be more wide-reaching than those floated in the past. It reportedly includes limits on travelers from non-Muslim countries such as Cuba, the tiny, majority Buddhist nation of Bhutan and Haiti.  

Tarin said he’s noticed another big difference.   

“In 2017, when the Muslim ban was instituted, there was a major reaction from all parts of American civil society . . . we're not seeing that same level of reaction” now, he said. “Everyone’s exhausted.” 

Tips for Muslim Americans traveling abroad  

CAIR has released guidance advising Muslims with different citizenship and legal status on how to protect themselves from immigration enforcement.  

McCaw, who leads the organization’s lobbying efforts, said some Muslim travelers who recently returned to the U.S. were asked by customs and immigration officials about their views on the Trump administration and American foreign policy.  

“We’re living in the midst of increased ideological screening like we have not seen before. Having a bad view of the president might be enough for you not to be granted entry into the United States,” he suggested. 

The guidance advises U.S. citizens who practice Islam to be cautious when traveling abroad and to take steps to protect themselves before leaving the country. It notes that that the Constitution only protects citizens while they are in the U.S., and those waiting entry at the border are “technically outside the U.S.” 

Muslim-presenting citizens should “be prepared to be put in secondary inspection and be prepared to be asked about your electronic device,” the organization warns in its guidance. 

McCaw recommended that travelers delete any messaging, social media and photo apps on their phones that they do not want government officials to have unlimited access to before they enter or exit the country.  

CAIR advised permanent legal residents of the U.S. who have a green card and who “may be targeted by the travel ban” not to leave the country unless it is necessary.   

Those that do need to travel abroad should consult an immigration attorney before doing so, the group advises.  

(This story has been updated to correct a misspelling/typo.)