Immigrant tech workers in Silicon Valley share how Trump's travel ban has changed their lives

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This week, the Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump's travel ban would be allowed to take effect.
The ban imposes varying restrictions on residents of eight nations, six of which are majority-Muslim.
Apple, Facebook, Snap, and Twitter took legal action to oppose the ban when it was first announced in January.
San Francisco-based photographer Helena Price photographed and interviewed immigrants working in Silicon Valley, asking how this ban will effect them.

This week the Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump's travel ban would be allowed to take effect.

The ban targets roughly 150 million residents of eight nations — six of which are majority-Muslim — and imposes varying restrictions on their entry to the United States.

When the administration announced the original iteration of its ban in January, tech companies like Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, and Google took legal action against it. Leaders in the tech industry at large expressed concerns about potential changes to work visa programs, as many employees at these companies rely on them to work in the US. This time around, however, companies are remaining mostly quiet.

Soon after the travel ban was announced in January, San Francisco-based photographer Helena Price made a public call for immigrants working in Silicon Valley to tell their story and to take a formal portrait with her. Below are portions of the six interviews she conducted in her studio.

Omid Scheybani, formerly Google, currently a graduate student at Stanford

Omid Scheybani is an Iranian citizen who was born and raised in Germany. As a young adult in 2011, Scheybani moved to San Francisco to work in tech. He describes the city as the "place where I grew up."

"I owe the city a lot. I feel very connected to San Francisco and overall to the entire Bay Area," he told Price.

Though he has lived in the US for nearly seven years, Scheybani didn't fully consider himself an immigrant until President Trump announced the original travel ban in January.

"Until two weeks ago, I never even thought of myself as an immigrant. It was a label that I never used. It wasn't part of my identity," he said. "I know I was not an American because I didn't have the citizenship, but I always saw myself as a fully contributing and highly integrated member of the society, paid my taxes, embraced American values, lived the American dream in many ways, and suddenly you get this stamp on you which says you're an immigrant."

Shahrouz Tavakoli, Product Designer, Pinterest

Tavakoli's family moved from Tehran, Iran, to the Bay Area when he was two years old.

"Immediately after Trump was elected, my first thought was, 'Thank goodness my son looks white,' which is a terrible thought to have. There's something psychologically profound about being labeled an enemy even though I have nothing but love for this country and its potential," Tavakoli told Price.

"In the eyes of so many people who don't know me, who don't know my family, just having a bias against us that we would want to hurt them in some way is troubling at best."

Tarik, UX Researcher, Google

"I was actually born [in the US], but I lived most of my life in Syria. I grew up in Syria, and around middle school, I moved to Egypt. Then, in college, I spent two years in Egypt, then finally made the decision that I want to come here and continue my education here and live my life here as well," Tarik told Price.

This is Tarik's fifth year in the US, and while he's no longer a practicing Muslim, he's become "disheartened" by the negative rhetoric surrounding Islam.

"It seems like there was sort of hidden hate that's surfacing, and it kind of makes you feel unwanted, undesired, and unwelcome," he said.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider