Nightmare nation
Leyla, 9, left stranded at Manchester airport
THE United States is becoming an ever uglier nation under Donald Trump.
The latest twist saw the selection of senior judge Brett Kavanaugh, whose views are partisan, to put it mildly.
But the president’s poisonous rhetoric, morphing into policies, is increasingly pervading attitudes in officialdom.
There have already been examples of a growing hostility towards those wishing to enter the country – even just for a visit.
That shuttered mindset is where you end up with a nine-year-old girl’s dream trip to Disney ending in tears. Leyla Unay and her family were cleared to enter the US months ago – only to be told just before boarding their flight that permission had been revoked. No reason given. The inward-gazing culture of America First needs to be changed if they ever hope to make their nation great again.
A country once seen as the place where dreams come true is gaining a reputation for being the land of nightmares.
US IMMIGRATION officials have ruined a Scots girl’s dream holiday to Disney World.
They refused to let the nine-year-old and her family fly to Florida just hours before their flight was due to take off.
Heartbroken Leyla Unay was stranded at Manchester airport yesterday with furious mum Liz, dad Kazir and big brother Burak, 17.
Liz, 44, said “everything was fine” when the family checked in on Saturday after travelling from their home in Hamilton.
But after being quizzed by airport officials, she was told a “change in circumstances” meant they could no longer travel.
She said: “The officer at the airport asked all the usual questions about why we were going to America.
“Leyla was standing there so excited with her Mickey Mouse ears on and told him she was going to Disney World.
“When they said we couldn’t go, we were all devastated and Leyla was in tears.
“We had our ESTA visas approved in January but we’re being told to contact the US Embassy in London because they’ve been revoked and we need full visas. It takes two weeks to even get an appointment.
“If we’d been told in January we needed full
visas, we’d have applied for them then.”
Former Thomas Cook employee Liz booked the holiday after being made redundant by the travel firm last year.
She said: “We’ve spent a year planning this holiday but now it’s £6000 down the drain.”
Liz and 43-year-old Kazir, who owns a shop in Turkey, were trying to sort out a last-minute break to Disneyland Paris yesterday.
The devastated mum added: “I can’t disappoint this wee lassie any more.
“She told all her pals she was going to Disney World. It’s all she’s been talking about for a year and now she’ll need to tell them she didn’t get to go.
“It’s going to cost £2500 to go to Paris and we need to get flights from Liverpool. That means we’re going to need to get there and fork out for a hotel but all I want to do is make my girl smile again.”
Thomas Cook said: “We understand Mrs Unay and her family are disappointed.
“Valid travel and visa documents, however, must be in place to enter the United States, so we have advised Mrs Unay to obtain the documents that she will need to go to Florida.”
No one at the US Embassy was available for comment.