Democrat Ethan Agarwal urged President Donald Trump to review the ban on Iranian students.
Silicon Valley businessman Ethan Agarwal, who is running for California’s 17th Congress as a challenger to Ro Khanna in the Democratic primary, has urged President Donald Trump to reconsider his immigration ban on Iran because that would force thousands of Iranian students who will graduate in May this year to leave the United States.
These students are now on an F-1 visa, but because the United States has paused all immigration processing into Iran, these students will not be able to enroll in the OPT, STEM OPT, or H-1B visa programs unless the pause is lifted. “These are young people who want to contribute to America; they are in schools at places like Berkeley, Santa Clara University, and Stanford. Without the moratorium lifted, they will have to return to Iran within 60 days. We want these bright young people to stay and work in America, pay taxes in America, and create jobs here,” Agarwal wrote.
“While USCIS determines the broader timing and implications of lifting the pause against affected immigrants, we are requesting that the pause be lifted for students graduating in 2026 specifically,” he added. Agarwal also shared a letter from a group of Iranian students in which they said they did not have any affiliation with the Islamic Republic. They said they wanted to be reviewed fairly based on all US security protocols and then allowed to remain in the United States.
But the temporary pause means that they will not be allowed to remain in the United States after they graduate from their colleges.“I don’t know who elected this moron to represent the Iranians; many F-1 students at Stanford, Berkeley and in Silicon Valley at CA-17 (Google, Apple, etc.) are agents or assets of the regime. Please continue to exercise utmost caution and scrutiny,” one wrote criticizing Agarwal.Ethan stuck to his guns and said he calls for all students to be vetted and for the deportation of those the State Department determines are harming the United States. Another criticism read: “Here we have another ambitious American politician defending non-American citizens. He could be fighting for American students and workers, but instead he is fighting against them.”
Who is Ethan Agarwal?
40-year-old Ethan Agarwal is a technology entrepreneur best known for founding digital fitness company Aaptiv and co-founding fintech company The Coterie. He was born in 1985 in Montreal, Canada, and grew up in Los Gatos, California.
His father, Vinod K Agarwal, was a computer engineering professor who later founded the semiconductor company LogicVision.Agarwal began his career in finance, working at companies such as Lehman Brothers, LionEye Capital, and McKinsey & Company before moving into entrepreneurship. In 2015, he founded Aaptiv, an audio-based fitness app that has grown rapidly, attracting investments from major companies like Amazon and Disney and reaching over a million users globally.
He later stepped down as CEO following the company’s acquisition, and in 2021 co-founded The Coterie, a financial technology company focused on investment access and wealth management.In 2025, Agarwal entered politics by announcing his candidacy for Governor of California for the Democratic Party. He has described himself as a “pro-capitalist” or market-oriented democrat, emphasizing business-driven solutions to economic, infrastructure and policy challenges. His campaign reflects a broader trend of technology entrepreneurs moving into politics, aiming to apply private sector expertise to governance.
