Family Separation
In an ideal world, people are not divided, and their lives are not harmed by their nationality, skin color, wealth, religion, or any artificial boundaries.
"Family Separation" addresses the results of a world that does have these divisions. This ongoing photo project is about Iranian students in the United States who have faced difficulties in their lives because of the travel ban and all the tensions between Iran and the US governments.
Siavash entered the United States in 2009 with a single-entry student visa. Since then, he hasn't risked leaving the country fearing he would not be able to re-enter. In almost 10 years, he was only able to see his sister twice. "The first time was in October 2017, after 7 years 10 months and 16 days, when my family and I reunited in Peace Arch Park on the western coast of North America." Siavash said. The Peace Arch Park is located right on US-Canada border and people can temporarily cross the border, within the park boundaries, even without a visa. Siavash and his sister saw each other again, for only 5 hours, in October 2018 at Haskell Library and Opera House which is located on the border between Vermont in the US and Quebec in Canada. Siavash got married in summer 2018 but none of his family members were able to be there. His parents, like many others, are prohibited from obtaining a tourist visa and entering the States to visit their children
Negar’s parents are both fighting cancer. Her visa has expired, and she won’t be able to go back to Iran for at least a couple of years. “I remember the last time I was in Iran. We’ve had a hard time finding chemotherapy medicine for my father,“ Negar said. She got married a couple of months ago and her parents are not allowed to come and visit. “My biggest concern about the future is the fact that my parents may never be able to come here,” Negar mentioned. Because of sanctions, medical costs have gone up and sometimes it is even impossible to find specific medicines, some if which can only be found on the black market. Negar arrived in the U.S. in 2015. She has been studying a Ph.D. in Computational Design in the College of Art and Architecture.
Yahya is doing his Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration and Policy. Yahya is living with his wife. Their first baby was born in 2016 and was diagnosed with Down Syndrome and a rare heart disease. The baby passed away when he was 1 year old. “When I think about treatment expenses and facilities, I cannot imagine what would happen to us if we were in Iran. It is not easy to find specific medicines because of sanctions,” Yahya said. His parents were never given a chance to come to the US and visit their grandson, Emad, not even after he passed away. Yahya lived in the US for 5 years and wishes to go back to Iran after graduation. He is hopeful he can make a contribution – even a very small one – to the well-being of the people in Iran. Yahya misses his grandmother a lot. “I haven’t seen my grandmother since 2014, he says. Every single call that I receive from my dad, I’m afraid of any bad news he wants to share about grandma.”
"One day that I was going to attend my morning classes, I saw many of the dorm students with blood on their clothes and faces. They had been beaten up. Everything was a giant mess. At the moment, I felt miserable," Farid said. Many of his best friends got arrested and most of them fled from Iran during and after the Iranian Green Movement in 2009. Farid entered the US on December 2010 and has never returned for a visit since then. “It has been 9 years that I haven’t seen my parents. Their hair has turned white. They got wrinkles on their faces. Talking over the Skype and Facetime, I feel distant and away. I cannot connect to them emotionally and I have forgotten the scent of home. My twin brother is living in Montreal, which is a 5-hour drive from where I live but I cannot go and visit him either,” Farid said. Farid, Ph.D. in Energy Management and Policy, is currently teaching Energy Business and Finance at Penn State.
Mona lived in Australia for 8 years starting when she was 5 years old. “I don’t have even one memory of my childhood with cousins and friends. All my childhood memories are with my elder brother. He was just more than a year younger than me,” Mona said. Mona’s brother passed away in 2012. She mentioned “I remember when I was trying to apply for U.S. universities, my mom was always saying: you are going to leave us alone. We do need you and we don’t have anyone else but you.” Mona entered the U.S. on August 2015 with a single-entry visa, and she never returned home for a visit. She believes she is missing an important part of her life because of not being able to go back home to visit. Mona considers herself as an immigrant. “In my view, all of us are immigrants, but we don’t really want to call ourselves like this.”
Vajihe is doing her Ph.D. in Computer Science Engineering. She came to the US in 2016. "I felt a lot of pressure on myself back in Iran, and that's why I decided to come to the U.S. As an Iranian woman, here I feel more respect and freedom," she said. Her father passed away in a car accident last year. The night before the accident, she missed her father's call and says she couldn't digest it until now. "It could be the last chance to see my father over the phone, but I missed it," Vajihe said. She believes it is worth it to live in the U.S. even if there are difficulties for us as immigrants.
Zeinab is living in the US with her husband. “Even though I have gained valuable life experiences in the U.S., I don’t want to grow old in this country. In the end, we are foreigners and because of language and cultural differences, it is hard to have close friends. I don’t want to be alone when I get old,” she said. Ever since her baby passed away in 2016, she has founded an NGO called Emad House in Tehran to support families who require special treatment for their children but cannot afford it. She was inspired by Ronald McDonald House Charities which supported them while Emad – her baby – was hospitalized. “Back in Iran, people are suffering. They said sanctions would not impact ordinary people, but medical expenses have more than doubled since the announcement of the new wave of US sanctions,” Zeinab said.
Arman studied Master of Architecture at Penn State. His program was a 3 year program, but it took him 4 years to graduate. He entered the U.S. first in August 2014. In 2016 he left the U.S. to visit his family, but he couldn’t enter back into the States. He traveled to Turkey, Armenia and Georgia to get a new visa, but he was rejected in each location. He finally got his visa from the U.S. embassy in the United Arab Emirates. He is currently working at Pickard Chilton Architecture firm in New Haven, Connecticut. “If I had the ability to travel through time, I would never come to the U.S. for study. I wish I could stay in Iran where my family and friends are,” Arman said.