Syrian in travel-ban suit arrives in U.S.
HONOLULU — The Syrian grandmother at the center of Hawaii’s lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s travel ban on people from six mostly Muslim countries has arrived in Honolulu.
Wafa Yahia received approval from the U.S. government several weeks ago, according to her son-in-law, Ismail Elshikh, the imam of a Honolulu mosque. She arrived late Saturday night after a 28-hour journey that began in Lebanon.
Two of Elshikh’s five children have never met their grandmother, he said. She last visited her family in Hawaii in 2005.
“Without the lawsuit, we couldn’t get the visa. Without this challenge, my children would not have been reunited with their grandma,” he said. “I still feel sadness for those who are still affected by the Muslim ban, who are not as lucky as my family.”
Elshikh is a plaintiff in Hawaii’s challenge to the travel ban. Yahia’s immigrant visa approval would not affect Hawaii’s lawsuit, Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin said.
A federal appeals court in Seattle is to hear arguments later this month in the government’s appeal of a ruling allowing grandmothers and other family members of those in the U.S. to enter the country.
The U.S. Supreme Court previously allowed a scaled-back version of the ban to go into effect before it hears the case in October. The justices exempted visa applicants from the ban if they can prove a “bona fide” relationship with a U.S. citizen or entity.