Trump ban: I cannot go back to my home, my hubby!

• The couple met in 2011 during a hiking trip to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and tied the knot after two years of long-distance relationship.

When Iranian artist Sarvin Haghighi hopped into a plane from Chicago to Australia on Jan10, it was meant to be a short family reunion.

But the 90-day ban on Muslims in the US is playing out the 'distance-makes-hearts-grow-fonder' effect on her and her American husband, Andy Culley.

Haghighi, 37, an Iranian passport holder, is stuck in Melbourne where her parents and siblings live, while Culley is back in Chicago running his publishing business.

"I feel broken," Haghighi told Khaleej Times over the phone from Melbourne. "I cannot even begin to tell you how it feels that I cannot go back to my home; to my husband," said Haghighi who lived in Dubai between 2006 and 2013.

The couple met in 2011 during a hiking trip to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and tied the knot after two years of long-distance relationship."I moved from Dubai to Chicago in 2013 and got married to Andy," said Haghighi, who is a resident artist at the ZhouB Art Centre in Bridgeport, Melbourne.

But the couple who found love on the highest peak of Africa has been left high and dry because Muslims from seven countries including Iran are barred from entering the US for 90 days.

Haghighi said her airline is clueless on exactly who all are affected by the ban. "I have a green card but not an American passport. My airline said they have not received clear instruction from the US Homeland Security on who can and cannot fly," said the artist.

"Imagine If I am not allowed inside the country after flying so many hours. Where will I go?" asked a shattered Haghighi.

A Facebook post by Culley read: "The irony in all of this is that Sarvin came to the USA to enjoy the personal and artistic freedoms that her nation of birth could not guarantee. It is heartbreaking that a person who has contributed so much to her adopted country is being turned away."

"Sarvin is a generous and beautiful soul that frankly this country could use more of," added the eager husband who has called on everyone to write to US senators, congressmen and local politicians to highlight the human face on the destruction the Muslim ban is causing.

When American Andy Culley and Iranian Sarvin Haghighi fell in love, they never thought nationality will ever play a spoilsport in their life.

The artist couple met in 2011 during a hiking trip to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and tied the knot after two years of long-distance relationship.

Fearing the ban will separate them for ever, Culley is garnering support for his wife's cause through social media.

His appeal is gaining traction online as TV celebrity and podcaster Anthony Ponce has run the couple's story on his podcast 'backseatrider.'

The video has gone viral and hundreds are coming forward to support us through this time. I just hope this madness ends and people like us are treated with dignity," said Haghighi.

http://khaleejtimes.com/trump-visa-ban/trump-ban-i-cannot-go-back-to-my-home-my-hubby