Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) claimed that she was “sickened and outraged” over the case of a Yemeni mother who was prevented from traveling to the U.S. because of the Trump administration’s travel ban.
Two-year-old Abdullah Hassan suffers from a genetic brain disorder, according to The Guardian, and is currently on life support in a California hospital. But his mother, Shaima Swileh, was unable to visit her son because she resides in Yemen, one of the six countries included in Trump’s travel ban.
“As a mother and immigrant from one of the so-called ‘banned’ countries, I am sickened and outraged by the Trump administration’s disregard for a mother separated from her son,” Omar said in a Monday press release, referring to the Trump policy as a “Muslim ban.”
“This child is dying and his mom is forbidden entry into our country to see him because of the Muslim ban,” she continued. “I commend the Council of American Islamic Relations in Sacramento and others for calling attention to this tragedy and demanding a visa waiver be issue to the child’s mother.”
On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department granted Swileh a waiver to travel to see her son, and she will arrive in San Francisco Wednesday evening, according to CNN. The move comes after the boy’s father, Ali Hassan, appeared on CNN to plead with Trump to allow the mother to visit.
“Time is running out for my son, to be honest,” he said. “All she wishes is to see her son, and that’s it. We want to be together.”
In her statement, Omar criticized the Trump administration for treating immigrants “as criminals” instead of “extending humanity and compassion to migrants and refugees seeking a better life.”
“We should be welcoming immigrants into our country, not demonizing them,” she added. Omar then appeared on CNN Tuesday morning where she said that Trump “every day has gone a little bit closer to being impeached.”
Rep.-elect @IlhanMN: “We know that this President, this administration every day has gone a little bit closer to being impeached. … We won’t be having these conversations on whether to do it, but it’s going to be when and how.” https://t.co/GMZo3BvrSB pic.twitter.com/y0jE4n7tU5
— CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt (@CNNThisMorning) December 18, 2018
“We won’t be having these conversations on whether to do it, but it’s going to be when and how,” she said.
– – –
Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Illhan Omar” by CNN.
she will be removed from this country