SF State’s first Arabic language professor is stuck at the U.S./Canadian border indefinitely because of visa problems, which left his students in the dark about what will happen to their classes.

On June 20 Dr. Mohammad Salama, the school's first full-time Arabic language professor, traveled to the U.S. Embassy in Toronto to upgrade his visa status, where he was informed he could not re-enter the United States until a security clearance is granted by the U.S. Department of State.

This left two teacher’s assistants with little experience to teach Salama's Arabic language classes.

Salama says he planned on just a three-day trip to Toronto that has now turned into a more than 70-day ordeal with no end in sight. He says he misses his two children and his wife, U.S. citizens who live in Wisconsin. His family was planning to move with him to San Francisco.

An immigration officer told Salama there was nothing he could do, but wait, Salama said.

“I already have my return ticket for the next day, so I asked inquisitively, ‘Could I still return to the U.S. on my original visa?’ to which she answered, ‘No, we have canceled all your previous visas to the U.S., so you can't go back,’” he said in a telephone interview from London, Ontario, Canada.

Without a qualified full-time Arabic instructor, more than 50 students were at risk of losing three to five units just weeks after the start of the semester.

This sent Midori McKeon, chair of the foreign languages and literatures department, into a frenzied scramble to fill, at least temporarily, Salama’s position.

McKeon announced to the Beginning Arabic class last Friday that she found someone to take over Salama’s classes on a temporary basis.

“I stayed up until 2:30 in the morning calling and e-mailing, and then slept in my office to make sure I would be here to say you will have your class,” McKeon told the class.

The temporary instructor is Father Rick Van Dewater, a former American missionary who served for more than 32 years in Jordan and Palestine working with Christians, Muslims, and Jews, according to McKeon. He will be teaching three days a week, while the teacher’s assistant will cover the other two days.

Salama will teach his Arabic fiction literature courses, Abrabic 650 and 850, online.

“I feel good they found a replacement. I thought our class would just end,” said Fahd Mohamed, 21, an undeclared freshman.

But even with a substitute, some students are wary.

“We are all sort of in the dark,” said women’s studies graduate student Rebecca Prather, 29, as she left Friday’s class. “Supposedly they have a teacher for us, but we are off to a rough start.”

Prather said the government’s unwillingness to let Salama back in may be related to American racism.

An [X]press request to the U.S. State Department for specific procedural details of an O-1 visa security clearance, or of Salama’s case was denied. The information cannot be provided because of legal purposes, according to the department.

The U.S. State Department receives 7.5 million non-immigrant applicants a year and out of those, 2.5 percent must go through additional screening, said Laura Tischler, a spokeswoman of consular affairs at the U.S. State Department.

“Additional processing usually takes a few weeks,” she said. Tischler did not specify if Salama is one of those 2.5 percent.

Salama, who is from Egypt, says the U.S. Department of Homeland Security approved his request to change his visa from a student visa to the more prestigious O-1 visa.

An O-1 visa is for non-immigrant foreign nationals who demonstrate extraordinary abilities or achievements in the arts, sciences, athletics, motion picture industry, education or business. O-1 applications require a rigorous set of documentation on the applicant’s past. The employer, in this case SF State, must also petition the INS on the applicant’s behalf, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Web site.

SF State College of Humanities Dean Paul Sherwin sent a letter to encourage the vice consul of the American Consulate General in Toronto to expedite a swift clearance for Salama.

“I’ve made calls, but I can’t influence this process. No one knows what’s going on. We are all very distressed that he’s not here,” Sherwin said.

Salama, has a Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Wisconsin and has lived in the United States for seven years.

“I have no problem with security, but I think this has gone past the reasonable limit. Two weeks — I could understand if someone has a similar name as me,” Salama said. “It has gone too far for everyone.”