Vancouver man travelling to U.S. for TED event blocked at border

[ahlam1399]

http://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AAp7W2J.img?h=100&w=100&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=410&y=275A Vancouver resident says President Donald Trump?s travel ban robbed him of a rare opportunity to participate in a TED event in New York City. Mohammed Alsaleh was one of 15 people picked from around the world to attend the Spotlight Presentation Academy, a public-speaking workshop in July, hosted by TED and Logitech. Alsaleh, a Canadian permanent resident and advocate for Syrian refugees, was elated when he got the news and immediately applied for a travel visa. ?I was over the moon when I heard that I was accepted into that event. It was a unique opportunity,? he told Metro. ?I applied for a visa, paid my fees, got my picture taken and I got an appointment at the consulate.? But that?s where his plans came to a halt. Alsaleh?s visa-rejection letter states his application ?requires further administrative processing.? The document does **t indicate why Alsaleh?s application was rejected, but he says a staff member at the consulate general gave him a hint. ?She told me actually, because of the political climate in the country, your application requires further administrative processing,? he said. President Trump has banned people from six countries, including Syria, where Alsaleh was born, from entering the United States. It was a frustrating experience for Alsaleh, 28, who was tortured in Syria for speaking out against the government before he coming to Canada in 2014 as a refugee. ?I felt I was racially profiled because of where I came from,? he said. ?It is so unlucky I was born in Syria otherwise I wouldn?t require this additional screening. It really feels bad to experience injustice. I experienced injustice in Syria and that?s why I fled the country.? The American Consulate General did **t respond to Metro?s request for an interview by deadline. A spokesperson for TED told Metro it has **t run into many visa issues with its participants in the past because its main event, the annual TED Conference, is held in Vancouver and **t the United States. This is **t the first example of a Canadian resident whose plans were thwarted by the travel ban. Earlier this year, Children?s Wish Foundation had made plans to take a cancer patient to the United Nations? headquarters in New York. But the organization cancelled those plans due to fears she could be detained at the border because she was born in Iran, one of the countries listed in Trump?s travel ban. For Alsaleh, the experience is a missed opportunity. ?I missed the chance to become a better advocate, a stronger advocate for the values that I believe in ? the values of justice and accepting others and advocating for refugees and those in need,? he said. Alsaleh is speaking at the TEDx East Van in September.

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