GOOG Alphabet Inc

By Jay Greene 

Sanaz Ahari was looking forward to a visit. She is 37 weeks pregnant, and her parents were going to attend to the birth of their grandson in the coming days.

Now, it seems, that won't happen.

President Donald Trump's executive order Friday banned people born in seven Muslim-majority nations--Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen--from entering the U.S. for at least 90 days. A federal judge on Saturday Blocked the enforcement of parts of Mr. Trump's order, and the situation remains uncertain.

Ms. Ahari, a director of product management at Alphabet Inc.'s Google, was born in Tehran. She is one of 187 employees Google contacted. The company counseled her to remain in the U.S., she said.

Ms. Ahari lives in the Seattle area. Visiting her parents across the border is out of the question, since she seemingly wouldn't be able to return to the U.S. She worries the immigration order means her parents, who are a two-hour drive away in the Vancouver, British Columbia area of Canada, won't be able to visit her either.

"It's turned my life upside down--overnight--without notice," said Ms. Ahari, who is 34 years old.

In 1996, Ms. Ahari immigrated with her family to Canada, where she is a citizen. Eight years later, after graduating with a computer science degree from the University of Victoria, she received an H-1B visa, issued to skilled employees to work in the U.S. She subsequently received a green card, allowing her to live and work permanently in the country.

Ms. Ahari is married to an American, and the couple has a daughter who is one-and-a-half years old. But because Ms. Ahari was born in Iran, Mr. Trump's order appears to restrict her travel. She is grateful she wasn't traveling abroad when the order was signed, which might have prevented her return to her family, she said.

"This is my home," Ms. Ahari said. "This is where my family is."

In soft-spoken words, Ms. Ahari expressed shock about her fate. A high-ranking executive at Google, she leads parts of the company's global advertising-measurement business. "I'm a contributing member of this country in a meaningful way," Ms. Ahari said.

She travels abroad once or twice a year for work, and travels internationally often to visit her parents and for vacations, such as skiing in Whistler, British Columbia. She was hoping to travel to Europe with her family this summer.

Now, she is uncertain of her next steps. Given the tense relations between the U.S. and Iran, Ms. Ahari fears the immigration order may become permanent.

She worries it may be a long time before her parents get to meet their grandson and see their granddaughter.

"I don't see a lot of light at the end of the tunnel," Ms. Ahari said. "I feel helpless. It is devastating."

Write to Jay Greene at Jay.Greene@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 28, 2017 23:58 ET (04:58 GMT)

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