US bans Yemeni mother from visiting dying toddler in California

UPDATE: Since this article was published, the US has granted Shaima Swileh her visa waiver. She will be boarding the earliest available flight to California to see her son.

The US travel ban imposed on citizens of several Muslim countries is preventing a Yemeni mother from travelling to California to see her dying son, in what activists have called an “unfathomably cruel” decision by the American authorities. Shaima Swileh, 21, is unable to join her husband and son, both of whom are US citizens, due to her status as a Yemeni national.

Two-year-old Abdullah Hasan was born with a rare brain condition in Yemen which quickly affected his ability to walk and then breathe. Shaima and her husband planned to take their son to the US for treatment, but her visa application was denied in August 2017, with the embassy citing the US travel ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen. Over the past year, the State Department has ignored her repeated pleas for a waiver to allow her into the United States.

With his condition deteriorating rapidly, five months ago his father took him to California from where the family was living in Egypt, in the hope that Shaima would be able to follow. Doctors have now informed him that the toddler, who is on permanent life support, is not expected to live much longer.

“All she wishes is to hold his hand for the last time,” said Abdullah’s father, Ali Hassan, 22, in an interview on Sunday. “If I could take him off the ventilator and to the airplane, I would take him to her. I would let her see him. But he won’t make it. If he dies and we bury him without his mom seeing him, then that will be a disaster.”

Yesterday, the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) held a news conference at their offices in Sacramento, calling on the State Department to expedite Shaima’s visa application on compassionate grounds.

“Now we see the Muslim ban’s effect in the most dehumanising way,” Basim Elkarra, a CAIR campaigner, told reporters. “We are calling on the Department of State to issue a Muslim ban waiver, to allow Shaima Swileh, the wife of a US citizen, the mother of a US citizen, to hold her child one last time and to allow her to mourn with dignity.”

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The toddler’s father broke down in tears as he gave a brief statement on behalf of the family, pleading with the US authorities to grant his wife a waiver: “My wife is calling me every day, wanting to kiss and hold her son for one last time. Time is running out. Please help us get my family together again.”

The father of a 2-year-old boy on life support says all he wants is for his wife to see their son one last time. She’s from Yemen, and can’t come here because of the travel ban. @CAIRSacramento is asking the government to expedite her waiver request so she can say bye to her son. pic.twitter.com/LiVfqGhghU

— Daniela Pardo (@danielapardotv) December 17, 2018

According to the State Department, consular officers can make exceptions to the travel restriction when a visa’s “issuance is in the national interest, the applicant poses no national security or public safety threat to the United States, and denial of the visa would cause undue hardship.” However, according to CAIR, statistics show that only two per cent of US waiver applications are granted.

US President Donald Trump’s proposal caused controversy when first announced during his 2016 presidential campaign; at the time, he called for a ban on all Muslims entering the US. After the election, he presented a softer version, barring only those arriving from certain Muslim-majority states, citing national security concerns. The travel ban was upheld by the US Supreme Court earlier this year, which rejected the argument that it represented unconstitutional religious discrimination.

The ban has remained highly controversial even as it resulted in the separation of hundreds of families. In February, the organisers of Hollywood’s Academy Awards also criticised it after Oscar-nominated Syrian film producer Kareem Abeed had his visa application rejected. Abeed, who holds a Syrian passport and is currently living in Turkey, was deemed to be ineligible for a visa, despite being invited to the US to support his film “Last Men in Aleppo”, documenting the White Helmets civil rescue team.

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