Abdullah Hassan is on a ventilator at the University of California San Francisco’s Benioff Chidren’s Hospital Oakland and is suffering from a genetic brain condition.
“My son, Abdullah, needs his mother. My wife is calling me every day wanting to kiss and hold her son,” Ali Hassan, 22, told reporters before breaking into tears, “for the one last time. Time is running out. Please help us get my family together again.”
Abdullah’s mother is a Yemeni national living in Egypt, CAIR says. The boy, whose birthday was Saturday, and his father are American citizens.
The boy’s mother has applied for a waiver to be with her child, and CAIR’s Sacramento Valley office plans to file court documents asking the government to expedite her waiver request, the organization said.
“He’s about to die soon,” the father told CNN. “His mother is unable to touch him, to see him, to even give him a kiss before he goes.”
CNN has reached out to the State Department and the hospital for comment.
Abdullah’s father brought the boy to the United States for medical treatment a few months ago, the CAIR chapter says. Doctors have said Abdullah may not withstand life support for much longer, it says.
“Our hearts are breaking for this family,” CAIR attorney Saad Sweilem said. “The loss of a child is something no parent should experience, but not being able to be there in your child’s last moments is unfathomably cruel.”
Though President Donald Trump’s travel ban — billed as a means of thwarting terrorists’ entry into the United States — has drawn legal challenges, the executive order still restricts nationals of Yemen and six other countries from entering the country.
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.”
Reached for comment, a State Department official said the government cannot discuss individual visa cases.
“The Department of State makes every effort to facilitate legitimate travel by international visitors. We are also fully committed to administering U.S. immigration law and ensuring the integrity and security of our country’s borders,” the official said.
CNN’s Eliott C. McLaughlin, Dan Simon and Nicole Gaouette contributed to this report.
Source : CNN
