As an Iranian couple mourns the loss of their baby, the travel ban that keeps them apart adds to the pain.

Just a few months back, Safa Sefidgari, a native of Iran and Ph.D. candidate at Rutgers University, was pregnant with her first child and diving deep into her lab work in New Jersey. He had several friends, and his English improved every day. It was supposed to be a fun time.

In early March, instead of celebrating her pregnancy and academic success with her husband, Sefidgari went into labor at 30 weeks, about four weeks before what doctors said was safe.

Her Iranian husband, Ehsan Entezari, had no way to reach her – he was stuck in Canada without a visa while Sefidgari endured a whirlwind of doctor visits and hospitalizations alone.

A week after it was born, the child died. Her husband could not go to the US to be by his wife’s side.

Standing in their way is the Trump administration’s travel ban. Released in June, the policy restricts the entry of citizens from certain countries, including Iran, “to protect the United States from foreign terrorist and other threats to national security and public safety.”

Sefidgari and Entezari, both 33 years old, last saw each other in January. Sefidgari was able to leave the US and return to New Jersey with his F-1 visa, which allows international students to enter the US for academic work. But her husband, who is completing a postdoctoral program in Canada, has been repeatedly denied an F-2 visa, which applies to dependents and spouses of F-1 visa holders. No one has applied for asylum in the US

Without specifying the reason for the denial, the notice received by Entezari, reviewed by NBC News, in part: “When determining visa eligibility, the officer takes into account the entire situation of the applicant, including family, social, technical, and economic ties in the applicant’s home country and previous travel history and any ties returning to the United States.”

Sefidgari and Entezari are among countless Iranians trapped in an ever-expanding immigration crisis rife with crimes, arrests and secession as the US and Israel battle Iran. Without a safe home to return to, many such families are stuck in legal limbo while immigration lawyers battle the Trump administration in court.

Left crying far from her husband, Sefidgari said she wonders if her child would have survived if she had been with him. Perhaps, he said, he would be less depressed about their continued separation and less concerned that the travel ban would keep them apart for several years.

“They don’t care about people’s lives,” Sefidgari said, referring to the Trump administration’s immigration policies. “It’s sad and disappointing.”

Last year, the couple joined a group opposing the administration’s travel ban. The lawsuit, filed in December in the US District Court of Massachusetts, includes dozens of Iranian plaintiffs and says the ban should not affect the review and issuance of student visas.

Jesse Bless, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, said that although the president has broad discretion in deciding who enters the country, the State Department also has the discretion to review visa applications.

“Even before the travel ban, some Iranians waited years to be approved,” he said, referring to F-1 and F-2 visas. “Our fear is that even if the travel ban is lifted, it will take another two or three years for student visas to be reviewed and processed.”

Attorneys for the Trump administration moved to dismiss the case this week.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sefidgari immigrated to the US in 2024 after obtaining a student visa. He received a master’s degree in nutrition in Tehran and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in endocrinology and animal bioscience at Rutgers University.

He is studying the relationship between metabolism and the parasympathetic nervous system, he said.

Entezari has a master’s degree in metal engineering and is completing a postdoctoral program at the University of Saskatchewan, 2,000 miles and two time zones away in New Jersey.

The couple met about 10 years ago while studying at university in Tehran. They were always planning to do higher degrees outside of Iran and settle in any country that offers the best work and research opportunities.

Sefidgari was still in Tehran when they decided to get married in 2023. Entezari had moved to Mexico and then to Canada to complete his studies. She returned to Iran for their wedding in July 2023 and, in August, applied for her F-2 spousal visa.

Sefidgari submitted his visa application as the doctor’s admission letters poured in. His F-1 visa process was so delayed that seven other universities that had originally accepted him threatened to return their applications to someone else who would accept sooner. Eventually Sefidgari was granted a student visa and began his Ph.D. Program at Rutgers University in the fall of 2024.

Meanwhile, Entezari’s F-2 application appeared to be entering the final stages of review.

“We were very happy. We thought he would have his visa and we would be together again,” she said.

Instead, Donald Trump was elected president. “The embassy was silent,” Sefidgari said.

In September 2024, Entezari received a denial notice from the Department of Homeland Security, according to emailed documents reviewed by NBC News. The email highlights that applicants must demonstrate that they “have the intention, means, and ability to complete studies in the United States.” It says that although the decision cannot be appealed, applicants can reapply.

“We didn’t understand what happened,” Sefidgari said, adding that her husband was not seeking an F-1 visa but rather an F-2 visa for spouses of international students.

Entezari applied again, this time in Canada, where he had started a graduate program while Sefidgari was finishing his freshman year at Rutgers. Meanwhile, Trump’s second term was underway, and the travel ban went into effect.

Two months later, in August, Entezari was rejected again, according to documents shared with NBC News. The notice outlined the reason for Trump’s travel ban, according to documents reviewed by NBC News.

Sefidgari was already pregnant and felt “absolutely hopeless” after the second rejection.

Entezari said they tried everything they could think of, including appealing to the office of Sen. Cory Booker, DN.J.

“This long separation from my wife has contributed to ongoing struggles with stress, anxiety and depression,” he wrote in an email from Booker’s office that he shared with NBC News. “My spouse and I are doing everything we can to remain patient, but the uncertainty is getting harder to bear.”

Last week he said: “No one has been able to help us, I can’t go to the USA to see my wife, and she can’t come to Canada in her condition.”

Booker described the travel ban in a statement as “reckless and discriminatory.” He added, “To indiscriminately close our doors to people fleeing violence and instability, to prevent US citizens from being reunited with their families, or to separate people based on the country of their birth goes against our country’s fundamental values.”

Booker’s office recently contacted Entezari.

On his own, Sefidgari is doing his Ph.D. while mourning the loss of her child and being forcibly separated from the one person who could best help her.

“After all that, I have bad memories of New Jersey.” But this is also where my child will be buried,” he said bitterly.

His visa will be renewed in June, he said, and his program is not scheduled to expire until 2029. Deciding whether to stay in New Jersey or transfer is beyond her control right now – she is trying to finish her child’s funeral in the coming days.

Entezari will not be able to attend, the couple said. That realization makes him vacillate between sadness and anger.

“She faced a medically fragile pregnancy alone, without her husband or close family support,” he said. “She had to endure childbirth, grief and great mental stress. Why?”

The couple can only wait and see if the American court system will allow them to be together. For now, Sefidgari said, he has a group of friends in his program who are taking care of themselves during this difficult time. They visited him in the hospital and stayed at his home when he was too weak to be alone, and sometimes they begged him to bring him dinner or lunch when he was ready.

But the night is too heavy, she said. He is often anxious and cannot sleep well.

Sefidgari visited the Pakistani Embassy in Washington this week to renew his Iranian passport. Asked if she is worried about being rejected or facing an unexpected situation, she remains silent and sighs.

“Everything has been difficult since I got here,” he said. “I don’t know what to expect.”