Journal Article

Hostages of the Crisis

Teague, Will

2018

Overview

The university administration had even helped him file the paperwork to get his arranged-marriage fiancee to the U.S. He was also allowed to work, which required special permission from INS, because the revolution had made it difficult for his family to send him money.45 He and his wife, Freda, were active on campus, as members of the HSU International Relations Club and were featured in a handful of photos in the university's 1980 yearbook.46 Jalai told the campus newspaper, The Oracle, at the end of November that he supported the shah, although he recognized the man's flaws, and that his mother had cautioned him against returning to Iran because of those feelings.47 On November 13, the Arkansas Gazette reported that INS officials headquartered in Memphis were on the way to visit several of the states' colleges to determine the legal status of Arkansas's guests.48 Officials began interviewing the approximately 140 Iranian students at UA on Monday, November 26. Only Congress had the power to make decisions about deportation. [...]the deportation of Iranians was being initiated for minor offenses, while other people were granted more room for error. A three-member panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the November 10 order was a \"fundamental element of Carter's efforts to resolve the Iranian crisis and to maintain the safety of the American hostages in Iran.\" In May 1980, the Arkansas Legislative Council requested that universities ban admission of Iranian students for the following summer semester and beyond and not allow current students who had not yet enrolled for summer or fall classes to do so.68 This proposal may have been prompted by the fact that only a few Iranian students had actually been deported but was most likely an expression of frustration with the continued intransigence of the Iranian government in regard to the American hostages still being held, including two from Arkansas (the third hostage, Sgt. Ladell Maples, USMC, an African-American man from Earle, had been released by the Iranians in November 1979).69 Arkansas Tech had eight Iranian students and quickly solicited an opinion from Arkansas's attorney general concerning the legality of such action.70 The University of Arkansas's Board of Trustees met at the UAPB campus and also decided to seek the attorney general's opinion before acting.

• Publisher: Arkansas Historical Association,Arkansas Historical Association, Department of History, University of Arkansas
• Subject: African Americans / Archives & records / College campuses / College students / Deportation / Diplomatic & consular services / Enrollments / Foreign students / Hostages / Immigration / Politics