Morteza Shakeri of Stow was a bundle of nerves as he paced the Akron Canton Airport concourse Monday evening.
The Iranian native and several friends were at the airport to greet his wife and daughter who were arriving in Ohio after being detained in Canada for a week because of President Donald Trump’s executive order halting travel from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Shakeri’s wife, Mansoureh Shasti, and their 1-year-old daughter, Kiana, traveled to Iran in December to be with an ill relative. Iran is one of the nations on Trump’s list.
Shakeri said he thought it would be months before he’d see his family again.
“I can’t wait to see them walking toward us,” he said as he peered down the walkway and spotted his wife and daughter.
Cheers erupted after the couple kissed and hugged each other for several moments after he presented his wife with a bouquet of flowers. Then he gave his wide-awake daughter a large helium balloon, which she played with after Daddy had taken her in his arms from the stroller and squeezed her tight.
Shakeri, 34, and Shasti, 32, came to the United States on student visas in 2011, shortly after they married. Their daughter was born in the United States and is a U.S. citizen. Shasti is a doctoral student in the physics program at Kent State University. Shakeri is a graduate student at the University of Akron working on his master’s degree in engineering. He is a civil engineer at the Union Metal Corp. in Canton making light and traffic poles.
It was Shasti’s first visit to her native country in six years. On Jan. 29, when she tried to pick up a visa that had already been approved and would have allowed her to return to the U.S., it was revoked when Trump’s executive order was enforced.
But this weekend, Trump’s temporary travel ban was blocked by a federal court judge in Seattle who put a nationwide halt on the ban and an appeals court in California refused to reinstate the temporary ban on Sunday. Those actions opened the door for those whose visas had previously been approved to take advantage of the situation to enter the United States. Meanwhile, Trump ordered lawyers for the administration to submit a brief on Monday to defend his ban and reinstate tight security at the borders.
The family said they knew they had to act quickly.
“I got the phone call this morning and immediately picked up my visa at 9 a.m. and we went straight to the airport and now here,” Shasti said. “Thank you all for everything.”
“Right now I am very surprised and very happy. I’m so happy they are here safely,” Shakeri said as other passengers paused to witness the reunion and coo and aah about the festivities.
It was also good news at Kent State.
“We’re happy things worked out and thrilled she’ll be back at the university,” said KSU spokesperson Kristin Anderson.
Told that KSU President Beverly Warren had urged her student’s safe return from the ban, Shasti said she will be back to school soon.
“I think I need one or two days with my family and then I’m ready to go back.”
Shakeri said his job also has been very supportive.
“They gave me two days off, Tuesday and Wednesday, and more if I need it,” he said. “My job has been great throughout all of this, giving me whatever time I needed to take care of things. I’m just glad I will be able to spend time with my family again.”
“I want to thank everybody that supported us during these two weeks,” Shakeri said. “Right now I believe we are not alone here. … I want everyone to know there are people behind this story.”
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com or you can follow her on Twitter@MarilynMillerBJ. Beacon Journal correspondent George W. Davis contributed to this report.