The day she started work in the United States, Shadi Sherafat came bearing gifts: Tim Tams and toy koalas for the team, a boomerang for her boss. She may have been born in Iran but was now a proud Australian.

The company - a mechanical engineering consultancy firm in Chicago - hired her because of the qualifications she attained in Australia: a bachelor's degree from Monash University and a master's degree from Melbourne University. They brought her on as an Australian citizen, travelling on an Australian passport.

But less than two years later, her life has been turned upside down by Donald Trump's controversial anti-Muslim immigration ban.

The 33-year-old had planned to return to Australia next month to visit friends but now can't risk it: she fears she won't be allowed back into the US, which would leave her homeless and unemployed. Even worse, she fears expulsion from the country when her work visa expires at the end of April.