Travel ban: US grants Iranian infant entry for life-saving surgery

An Iranian infant in need of life-saving heart surgery has received a waiver and will now be allowed to travel to the United States, New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday.


“We were pleased to learn that the federal government has now granted Fatemeh Reshad and her family boarding documents to come to the United States,’’ Cuomo said in a statement.

Four-month-old Fatemeh and her family were sent back to Iran from Dubai as they attempted to travel to the U.S. on Jan. 27, following President Trump’s executive order banning the entry of travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries.



The family was scheduled to meet with doctors in Portland, Oregon, where they have relatives.

“Bizarrely, the federal ban would prevent this child from receiving medical care and literally endanger her life.

“It is repugnant to all we believe as Americans and as members of the human family,’’ Cuomo said.

The governor said Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan has offered to perform the surgery at no cost to the family, while a law firm was taking care of all their travel expenses.

According to media report, doctors in Tehran had told the family in January that Fatemeh has structural abnormalities and two holes in her heart, but they did not have the resources to treat her.

Cuomo called the family’s situation “one of the most unfortunate and egregious” caused by the government’s “misguided immigration policy.”