14 Nov 2024
Tuesday 7 February 2017 - 16:10
Story Code : 250135

Three Iranian couples recount heartbreak of Trumps travel ban

Al-Monitor- Happy endings are seeming harder to findwith President Donald Trump in office, but one potentially heartbreaking story did wind up having a good outcome atBostons Logan International Airport. When Poorya Kamali, a 28-year-old studying for a doctorate in chemistry, learned of Trumps Jan. 27 executive order to ban the entry of citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, his wife, Fatemeh Safaee, had begun her trip back to the United States from their native Iran. Safaee is a holder of anF-2 visa, whichallows spousesof student visa holders to enter the United States. Kamali and Safaee had spent Christmas break inIran with family; he had returned earlier to begin his semester at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.

Airport authorities denied her transit in Frankfurt [Germany], Kamali told Al-Monitor. They didn't let her board the flight to Chicago. They sent her back to Iran.

Needless to say, Kamali was devastated. When he initially shared his story, he wasnt sure he was going to see his wife anytime soon. He said, Ive thought about quitting my studies and leaving this country. I can't be here without her.

Thentwo federal judges in Massachusetts, Judge Allison Burroughs and Magistrate Judge Judith Dein, imposed a seven-day restraining orderon the entry ban. Subsequently, German airliner Lufthansa issued an announcement allowing all travelers with passports from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen with valid travel documents to board flights to Boston. Kamali saw theopening andinstantly booked a ticket for Safaee to fly from Tehran to Boston via Munich. Then he drove for 17 hoursfrom Lexington to Bostonto reunite with his wife.
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