Mohammed Rawi fielded death threats and live gunfire while helping American reporters cover the war in Iraq.

Seven years ago, he was granted asylum in the United States. He found a county government job and settled in Long Beach with his wife and children.

This weekend, Rawi’s 69-year-old father, a retired civil engineer who lives in Baghdad, was scheduled to arrive for a long-awaited visit. But those plans were abruptly upended Friday when President Trump on Friday suspended admissions from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Iraq — throwing countless Muslim families into turmoil, and setting off a sleepless night for Rawi.

“This is unbelievable. I don’t know how this is possible,” said Rawi, who worked in The Times’ Baghdad bureau during some of the most violent years of the Iraq war.was all done.”


It’s frustrating, most of all. Makes me sad for my in-laws and family, but mostly I’m really scared. Bahareh Aslani, 34, Iranian American

Ali Abdi, a 30-year-old student from Iran, has been studying for his PhD in anthropology at Yale University, and had left the U.S. last week for the United Arab Emirates on his way to a research trip in Afghanistan.

Now Abdi, who has been living in the U.S. for the last four years, is unsure what to do. He cannot return to Iran, where he faces potential imprisonment for his political activism. His visa for the UAE won’t allow him to stay there for long, nor does he have permission for an extended stay in Afghanistan.

Most seriously, under Trump’s new order, he can no longer