An Iranian infant with a heart defect is entangled in President Trump’s immigration ban — and her extended family in Oregon is on an urgent mission to get her to the US for critical surgery.
Fatemeh’s parents were scheduled to meet with doctors in Portland on February 5, but were barred from traveling from Tehran to Portland, Fatemeh’s uncle, Samad Teghizadeh, told CNN Thursday.
Last month, Iranian doctors in Tehran told baby Fatemeh’s family that the 4-month-old has structural abnormalities and two holes in her heart, but they lack the resources to treat the infant.
Fatemeh and her parents boarded a flight to Dubai on Saturday but they were rerouted back to Iran and told to reapply for a US visa in 90 days. Teghizadeh, a US citizen who lives in Portland, worries his niece will not make it until then.
The delay comes after Trump’s executive order put an abrupt stop on travel to the US for citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran.
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