HONOLULU: The Syrian grandmother at the center of Hawaii鈥檚 lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump鈥檚 travel ban on people from six mostly Muslim countries arrived in Honolulu Saturday night.
Ismail Elshikh, the imam of a Honolulu mosque, said his 52-year-old mother-in-law Wafa Yahia received approval from the US government several weeks ago. She arrived at Honolulu鈥檚 Daniel K. Inouye International Airport Saturday evening on a flight from San Francisco in a 28-hour journey that started in Lebanon, he said.
Elshikh is a plaintiff in Hawaii鈥檚 challenge to the travel ban. The lawsuit argues that the ban prevented his Syrian mother-in-law from visiting.
The complex legal wrangling over the travel ban is ongoing. A federal appeals court in Seattle is scheduled to hear arguments later this month in the government鈥檚 appeal of a judge鈥檚 ruling in July that allows grandmothers and other family members of those in the US who may enter the country.
The US 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 鈥渂ona fide鈥� relationship with a US citizen or entity.
鈥淭he news that Dr. Elshikh鈥檚 family is being reunited is one bright moment today when love trumped hate,鈥� Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin said in a statement. 鈥淚n America, no race should ever be excluded, no religion should ever be hated, and no family ever gets left behind.鈥�
Yahia鈥檚 immigrant visa approval would not affect Hawaii鈥檚 lawsuit, Chin said: 鈥淪o long as this discriminatory and illegal executive order is not struck down, the state of Hawaii and its residents are harmed.鈥�
Two of Elshikh鈥檚 five children have never met her, he said. She last visited her family in Hawaii in 2005.
鈥淲ithout the lawsuit, we couldn鈥檛 get the visa. Without this challenge, my children would not have been reunited with their grandma,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 still feel sadness for those who are still affected by the Muslim ban, who are not as lucky as my family.鈥�
Syrian grandmother in travel ban flap arrives in the US
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