Amin Shokrollahi from AIC Video Profiled in 'The Intercept'
/Amin Shokrollahi, the German-Iranian dual citizen and mathematics professor who was profiled in the AIC's video about the discriminatory visa waiver restrictions, was recently profiled in The Intercept.
Days before his flight, however, when Shokrollahi checked the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s online website to confirm that his visa application was still in order, he received an unpleasant surprise. Due to a recent change to the Visa Waiver Program that targets dual citizens of Iran, Sudan, Iraq, and Syria, his permission to visit the United States had been changed to “not authorized.” Weeks before, the U.S. Congress had passed the “Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act,” a measure that effectively made European-Iranian dual citizens like Shokrollahi ineligible for visa-free travel to the United States.
AIC's Kayvon Afshari was also quoted in the report:
“There are many accomplished Iranian-European dual citizens working for multinational corporations and universities who often need to travel urgently and without much prior planning, something which makes getting a U.S. visa a major impediment,” said Kayvon Afshari, communications director at the American Iranian Council. “As a result of the new visa waiver regulations, they can no longer freely travel to the United States like their fellow European citizens, something that can have real negative impacts on both economic activity and academic development.”
