US Muslims in the United States are celebrating President Biden’s reversal of former President Trump’s travel ban, which targeted several Muslim-majority countries, on Day 1.
The whole picture: The repeal of what many critics have called the “Muslim ban” renews hope for thousands of families separated by Trump’s order.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, Mina Mahdavi, a Campbell-based cybersecurity engineer, renewed her hope that her mother, who lives in Iran, could spend time with her nephew, who was born a few months after Trump signed the ban, ABC7 reports.
- Mahdavi wanted her mother to visit her with a tourist visa, but the visa was refused.
In New York, Nashwan Mozeb, a bodega worker in Queens, hopes to see his wife, who is in war-torn Yemen. He’s been trying to bring her to the US since 2016, according to The City.
- “Every day I pray to God that we will meet because it is too difficult,” Mozeb told The City, saying he hopes his wife’s visa application will be approved quickly.
In Chicago, Jihad Al-Nabi, a Syrian refugee working as a pastry chef, hopes to be able to reunite with his family, he told ABC7 Chicago.
In Los Angeles, Mania Darbani called her mother, who is in Iran, on the night of Biden’s inauguration, while they remembered her promise to repeal the ban, writes Reuters.
- “It means I can get to you very soon,” Darbani’s mother told him.
But, but, but: The coronavirus pandemic can prevent families from gathering because travel and visa restrictions are in place.
- There is also a huge volume of visa cases and waivers that need to be addressed.