Cairo/Los Angeles: Abdullah Hassan, the dying infant whose Yemeni mother was prevented from visiting him in the United States for months due to the Trump administration’s travel ban, has died.
Abdullah, the 2-year-old son of Yemeni citizen Shaima Swileh and US citizen Ali Hassan, died on Friday at a children’s hospital east of San Francisco, California, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a statement.
“We are heartbroken,” Hassan said. “We had to say goodbye to our baby, the light of our lives. We want to thank everyone for your love and support at this difficult time. We ask you to kindly keep Abdullah and our family in your thoughts and prayers.”
A funeral service was held for the toddler on Saturday at the central California town of Lodi where Hassan’s father, donned in all black, addressed a packed room.
Swileh, who lives in Egypt but is a citizen of Yemen, arrived on December 19 in the US to see Abdullah on a visa permitting entry to close relatives of citizens.
Washington granted Swileh a waiver for the visa after her application was rejected under the travel ban, which bars entry to Yemen nationals, among other mainly Muslim countries.
Banan Al Akhras, one of the family’s attorneys, called the protracted process “a sham” and said the waiver did not erase his clients’ “unimaginable pain and suffering.”
A crowdfunding campaign set up to help the family has raised $40,000 out of a $50,000 goal. — dpa
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