January 30, 2017
Source/GoFundMe.com
The ACLU of Pennsylvania is working to ensure the Assali family — two brothers, their wives and teenage children — gains admittance to the United States.
An online fundraiser has raised thousands of dollars to aid a Syrian family adversely affected by the immigration order President Donald Trump signed last week.
The family was denied entry into the United States on Saturday despite having secured travel visas and being approved for green cards. They were sent back to Syria via a flight to Doha, Qatar, prompting thousands to protest Sunday at Philadelphia International Airport.
The ACLU of Pennsylvania is working to ensure the family — two brothers, their wives and teenage children — gains admittance into the United States, where they were set to reconnect with relatives, including Sarmad Assali and her daughter, Sarah, in Allentown.
A GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $10,000 to cover the flights and other expenses needed to bring them back to the United States. About 315 people had donated since the campaign was established Sunday by Susan Ellis Wild, a lawyer for the Assali family.
Any additional funding will be used for initial living expenses, according to Wild. If the families are unsuccessful in their bid to enter the United States, the funding will be donated to an organization dedicated to ensuring others do not meet a similar fate.
Trump's executive order banned travel from seven Middle East countries from entering the United States, sparking protests at airports across the country. Each of the affected countries, including Syria, have majority Muslim populations.
The family's status remains up in the air. An NBC10 report on Monday said U.S. Customs and Border Protection rejected a resolution that would have allowed the Assalis to return to the United States, citing Joseph Hohenstein, the family's attorney. An action will be filed in federal court Tuesday asking that the family, which already had visas, be allowed to return to the United States without detainment.
The Assali family are Orthodox Christians, a group that has faced persecution in Syria, and began their immigration process in 2003, according to CNN. They were approved to enter the United States on F-4 visas for brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens in late 2015. But they waited until they could pack up their homes in Syria to come to America.
The travel ban has been roundly criticized by Democrats who say it equates to a religious test to enter the country. Some Republicans have joined the criticism, including U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., whose district includes the Assali's hometown.
"This is ridiculous," Dent told The Washington Post. "I guess I understand what his intention is, but unfortunately the order appears to have been rushed through without full consideration. You know, there are many, many nuances of immigration policy that can be life or death for many innocent, vulnerable people around the world."
