‘She is not a terrorist’: Iranian baby caught in travel ban is granted entry for heart surgery – Washington Post
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) said, "keeping four-month-old babies out of our country does not make us safer." (Reuters)
As Rep.Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) prepared to address her colleagues Friday morning in the House of Representatives, another woman adjusted a nearby easel with a large photograph of a wide-eyed baby girl.
Mr. Speaker, this is Fatemeh, Bonamici said. She is not a terrorist.
She explained the babys predicament: Fatemeh was a 4-month-old infant from Iran in immediate need of open-heart surgery. She had been diagnosed several weeks ago with structural abnormalities and two holes in her heart, and she would die unless she receivedtreatment that Iranian hospitals were not equipped to provide, the Associated Press reported.
Her parents desperately want the best care for her, so they planned to bring her from their home in Iran to Portland, Ore., to one of the best hospitals for pediatric heart surgery, Bonamici said. Thats where Fatemehs uncle and grandparents all live. They are U.S. citizens.
However, the family soon found their plans in turmoil after President Trumps executive order temporarily banning travelers and revoking visas from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Iran.
[Justice Dept. lawyer says 100,000 visas revoked under travel ban; State Dept. says about 60,000]
Trump signed orders on Jan. 27 not only tosuspend admission of all refugees into the United States for 120 days but also to implement new vetting measures to screen out radical Islamic terrorists. Refugee entry from Syria, however, would be suspended indefinitely, and all travel from Syria and six other nations Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen would be suspended for 90 days.
Fatemehs family had an appointment in Dubai to obtain a tourist visa to the United States, but it was abruptly canceled after Trumps order, according to the AP.They were told they could reapply in 90 days.
But Fatemehs family does not know if she can wait that long, Bonamici said Friday on the House floor.I dont know what the president had in mind when he signed that order, but it probably wasnt baby Fatemeh.Keeping 4-month-old babies out of our country doesnt make us safer. It puts her life in danger and diminishes the United States in the eyes of the world.
The familys life-or-death situation had caught the attention of a group of lawmakers in Oregon, including Bonamici.
It is heartbreaking and disgraceful that this even happened, she said. I hope the courts invalidate this unconstitutional Executive Order soon, and I hope its in time for baby Fatemeh.
On Friday, several of those lawmakers filed for a waiver from the State Department and Homeland Security, the Oregonian reported.
Whether [Fatemeh] and her family are allowed access to this urgent and necessary medical care in the United States will determine whether she lives or dies, the lawmakers said, according to the newspaper. Granting her familys request to travel to the U.S. is not only the moral and humanitarian decision, but would signal to Iran and the rest of the world that, even in the face of highly strained diplomatic relations, the United States offers help to those suffering tragic circumstances.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) told the Oregonian he couldnt fathom a waiver wouldnt be granted when a little girls life is at stake.
The conversation in Washington, D.C., is about national security, Merkley said, according to the newspaper. The reality is that there are thousands of other people whose lives are being disrupted in similar ways.
Late Friday night, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo released a statement indicating the baby and her family had been cleared for travel to the United States.
This evening we were pleased to learn that the federal government has now granted Fatemeh Reshad and her family boarding documents to come to the United States, Cuomo said in a statement. We will continue to work with the International Refugee Assistance Project and their partners to ensure this baby receives the treatment she needs, and fight for those being unfairly shut out of Americas gates by this policy.
The right thing happened tonight, Cuomo tweeted Friday.
[Travelers from Iran board flights to the United States following stay, attorney says]
The statement added the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison would pay for the familys travel costs. Mount Sinai Hospital also offered to provide the surgery free, but attorneys told the Oregonian the family would still seek to have the baby treated at Oregon Health and Science University Hospital in Portland, as planned.
Jennifer Morrissey, a Portland immigration lawyer, told the newspaper she spoke with the infants uncle, Portland resident Samad Taghizadeh, on Friday night.
I would describe him as extremely overwhelmed and grateful, she told the Oregonian.
On Friday night, U.S. District Judge James L. Robart in Washington state issued a ruling that would temporarily block enforcement of Trumps controversial ban. The following day, the State Department said it would reverse the revocation of visas under Trumps executive order, allowing previously banned travelers to enter the United States.
Read more:
Trump lashes out at so-called judge who temporarily blocked travel ban
After four years and Trumps travel ban, a child meets her family
Lawyers continue airport campouts amid Trump travel ban
Continued here:
'She is not a terrorist': Iranian baby caught in travel ban is granted entry for heart surgery - Washington Post