Local

As new travel ban begins, local refugee family worries about others left behind

TUKWILA, Wash. — As a revised travel ban went into effect late Thursday, KIRO 7 visited a family who recently fled persecution in Iraq.

Kheder Namr Darweesh said he worked for about six years as an interpreter for U.S. troops. He applied for his whole family to move to the U.S., a process which took five years.

As Yazidis, Darweesh said they were targeted by ISIS. He said that ISIS destroyed their homes, forcing them to flee with only the clothes on their backs. One of their relatives was captured by ISIS. He said his family survived in tents for two years.

The first to arrive were his son and daughter-in-law. They arrived on inauguration day, with their baby named Steven.

“His dad named him Steven, because it’s an American name,” said Shatha Sleman Kheder, through an interpreter.

On the walls of her home are U.S. flags and a sparkling “USA” sign.

Within days of her arrival, President Trump announced a travel ban, which temporarily restricted travel from Iraq, among other mostly Muslim countries.

While the issue was debated through lawsuits and court hearings, Darweesh, his wife, and other children were able to make it to Sea-Tac Airport on March 10th.

Now, a revised ban allows entry for people with bona fide connections to the U.S. Late Thursday, that qualification was defined as having a U.S.-based parent, spouse, child, adult son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law or sibling, including step-siblings and other step-family relations. But having grandparents, grandchildren, uncles, aunts, cousins and fiancés would not count.

Darweesh said he and his wife still have siblings in Iraq, who call them frequently.

“Now the Yazidis, when they call us, they say that we just hope that they – the U.S. would give us a chance to come,” Darweesh said through an interpreter.

Iraq is no longer on the list of banned countries, but the uncertainty of future immigration policy keeps the family worried about others who have not yet escaped the terrorism at home.

With the limited English Darweesh could speak, he told KIRO 7 how relieved he feels to be with his grandchildren in the U.S.: “Yes, very, very happy. And lucky because all my family here. And we appreciate America.”