Kurdish family allowed entry into US

TENNESSEE, United States (Kurdistan24) – A United States Congressman on Wednesday announced a Kurdish family who was originally denied entry into the US had been granted access.

US Congressman Jim Cooper, who represents the state of Tennessee’s fifth congressional district, said the decision to allow the family into the US was demonstrative of the American people’s values.

“It’s shattering when you’re headed to the United States on a plane, and you get pulled off for no good reason,” Rep. Cooper said in a press release on his official website.

Fuad Sharef Suleman and his family left the Kurdistan Region last week and were headed to Nashville, Tennessee where they planned to settle.

However, Suleman’s family were stopped at an airport in Cairo on the weekend and prevented from boarding their connecting flight to the US.

“The Sharef family were innocent victims of President [Donald] Trump’s executive orders,” Rep. Cooper said, referring to Trump’s recent immigration ban.

Suleman and his family had received special immigrant visas because of his services to the US government.

On Tuesday night, the US Embassy in Baghdad received clarification from the Department of State that it was “in the national interest to allow Iraqi special immigrant visa holders to now travel to the United States.”

Rep. Cooper had promised to stay in touch with the US Embassy in Baghdad to ensure the Suleman family were allowed entry to America.

After the decision to clear the Kurdish family, Rep. Cooper applauded “America’s diplomatic corps for working to uphold the nation’s values overseas.”

“Swift action by many committed US State Department employees allowed our nation to right a wrong,” he stated.

“In America, we should honor our commitments,” Rep. Cooper concluded.

Editing by Ava Homa