Posted on 09/12/2006 7:54:28 AM PDT by SmithL
An assistant professor of Arabic at San Francisco State University has been stranded in Canada for three months, unable to return to campus, after the U.S. State Department canceled his visa and began reviewing his security status. Mohammad Ramadan Hassan Salama's troubles began in June, when he arrived in Canada for what he thought was a two-day stay to change his temporary scholar visa, which was due to expire. He planned to exchange it at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto for the more coveted O-1 visa, granted only to those with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics. By law, he had to go outside the country to get the visa.
But the Egyptian-born academic got a rude awakening June 20 when a consular official, without explanation, stamped "canceled'' on his temporary visa and refused to issue another visa. Instead, Salama said, he was fingerprinted, questioned and told he could not return to the United States until he received security clearance.
"It was just a shock for me,'' he said by phone on Monday. "It is very Kafkaesque. They just say, 'We will contact you.' I am Egyptian, and Egypt is a very hot country right now that has produced terrorists. They disregarded my Ph.D., my scholarship. My marriage, my kids were blindly disregarded, and I was told I could not come back."
Janelle Hironimus, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said she could not comment on individual cases. "The administrative process can take quite some time, so it is not something that we have control over," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Too bad, so sad.
As Jerry Seinfeld says, "That's a shame." :-)
We should deport them all.
Tough luck.Time to pack up the family and head back to Egypt.
That's exactly what I thought 2 seconds before I saw your post!
I think we'll get along ok minus one muslim studies professor in a liberal university. I would like to know how he lectures on the conflict between our two cultures (enlightened west vs. mideval mid east) and which side he comes down on. If he is one calling for a reformation similar to what the west underwent during the period of enlightenment we should get him back.
Learn some Spanish and sneak in through Mexico - nobody at State will care.
No, I would say they took all that completely into account. After all, much of the same could be said about this guy:
What's confusing about "temporary"?
BOO FREAKIN" HOO!!!!!
Cry me a river.
Ask him if he agrees with this guy or not.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1700005/posts
Spanish translation: el tuffo shitto.
"I set out to do just that. The violin I built turned out to measure 1 5/8". I re-submitted the new photos and information to The Enquirer. This time, the Guinness Book people replied to me, saying that I needed to verify the information." - Eric Meissner
Stupid!
He bet the farm and he lost.
Memo to him: Jump on a plane for Mexico City and come in the way a majority of the immigrants do.
The cockroach was not "arrested" or "harrassed". He is showing that he has no respect for our security concerns or visa process. Keep him out.
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