Sinan Al-Rubaye feels like he’s been running his entire life.

Born in Iraq, the Iowa State pre-business student fled his home with his family to Qatar, a country that would not have welcomed them if it wasn’t for his father’s business.

With no future in a nation that restricts jobs to only its natives, Al-Rubaye came to the United States to get an education. After finally feeling that his life was on track, President Donald Trump gave an executive order placing a travel ban on seven middle eastern countries.

Now, Al-Rubaye feels that he’ll be forced to move once again, only this time, he doesn’t have any place to run to.

He is one of 115 students at Iowa State directly affected by this ban.

“We’re now on a list because of things we didn’t choose. I didn’t choose my nationality, I was born there. It’s not my fault,” Al-Rubaye said. “I’m on the run again because of something I didn’t choose.”

Al-Rubaye last saw his family in July and is unsure at this point when he will see them again. Since he is not native to Qatar, he will lose his residency if he does not return by this July.

If he loses his residency there, Qatar’s strict border control laws will make it nearly impossible for him to ever return to see his family. The immigration ban would also keep him out of the United States if he decides to leave.

At this point, he’s not sure if he will be able to see his family until his graduation in 2020. When he finishes school, he’s not sure where the reunion would even take place.

Rahma Belaid, sophomore in Aerospace engineering, sat to the left of Al-Rubaye. They are from two completely different countries, have different backgrounds and despite both being affected by this executive order, Belaid has her own separate struggles.

Belaid came from her home country, Libya, to start school in the United States in 2014. After spending two years away from her family, she planned to visit home to be by the side of her younger sister, who will be receiving a dangerous surgery.

“People would say that ‘[Trump] wouldn’t dare do this. Don’t take him seriously,’ but it was just one week and he did all this damage,” Belaid said.

Belaid said that her sister is young and that she is scared, but going home would mean giving up her degree, so ultimately she had to make the difficult decision to stay.

Balaid and Al-Rubaye felt a sense of familiarity with the behavior of Trump.

They draw similarities with what they saw in the leadership of their home countries, calling it “the Middle East way.”

“We are familiar with this because the Middle East is like this. A new president that comes in, he changes everything in the country the way he wants. No one can even dare talk to him,” Al-Rubaye said. 

Al-Rubaye recalls hearing stories of America back home. He thought of it as the “country of freedom” and the “country of love.” Now, in his eyes, it is turning into the country that he left behind.

With a choice to go study anywhere in the world thanks to a grant from her government, Belaid chose to come to America. 

Al-Rubaye has two siblings going to school in Canada who are advising him to transfer there. He went to school in the United States because this is where he wants to be. 

Belaid agrees with Al-Rubaye’s reasoning to attend school in the United States, saying, “I chose America because I know that I’ll be myself, I’ll have my freedom to practice anything I want, to meet people from all around the world.” 

She added that now he is planning to ban people based off of their religion and nationality. She believes it is unacceptable, saying that “this is not America.”