Mohammed Al Zabidi celebrated this in 2017 when he learned that he had been selected in the U.S. Green Card lottery, which picks random people from a large number of applicants. It was an opportunity to escape his war-torn homeland, Yemen, and pursue his dreams in the United States.
“I won! I won!” Al Zabidi cheered. He borrowed money to finance his trip, bought clothes for his new life in the United States, and took souvenirs for his friends. With no U.S. embassy in Yemen, he made a grueling trip to Djibouti for his visa interview.
But there, after being initially approved, the fate ended: “CANCELED WITHOUT PREJUDICE”, the black and white stamp with capital letters of the unused visa of the passport with the prohibition of travel of the administration was read Trump to several Muslim-majority nations, including his own, in his place.
“My family trusted me with their hopes. … My mother cried; that saddened me more, ”he said.
President Joe Biden’s repeal of the ban on the day of the inauguration brought relief to citizens of the countries covered by the measure. But amidst the celebrations are stories of broken dreams, separated families, exhausted savings and lost milestones, from births to graduations. And for some, there are concerns about whether their opportunities may go away forever.
The lottery system requires that winners be examined and have a visa in hand by September 30 of the year in which they are selected, or lose. Therefore, Al Zabidi wonders if he will ever come to the United States to start working there and pay what he borrowed.
“Can we get our visas back? Can they compensate us? He said, “We don’t know.”
Many of those whose lives were altered now have to look for questions about delays, fees paid and travel restrictions due to the pandemic. Proponents of immigration and Muslim rights in the United States applaud Biden’s decision, but also point to work ahead to reclaim lives and reclaim the legacy of the ban.
“The ban advanced the narrative that Muslims, Africans and other communities of color do not belong to America, that we are dangerous threats,” said Mary Bauer, legal director of Muslim Advocates. “Ending the ban was only the first step in changing this narrative. The Biden administration must then remove other administrative barriers to immigration that prevent families from coming together. ”
More than 40,000 were denied visas because of the ban, according to U.S. State Department data. They included not only lottery winners, but people trying to visit family, those traveling for personal or business reasons, and students accepted to U.S. universities.
Biden has commissioned a report to address several issues, including a proposal to ensure reconsideration of immigrant visa applications denied due to the ban. The proposal will study whether the rejected applications will be reopened. He also called for a plan to expedite the consideration of such requests.
Many affected by the ban are also blocked by an April order by former President Donald Trump stopping the issuance of green cards to protect the U.S. labor market amid the pandemic.
Biden has not indicated whether he will lift it and ending the travel ban would mean little if he does not, said Rafael Urena, a California attorney.
“Most of my clients have no reason to celebrate because they are still trapped,” Urena said.
They include Mania Darbani, whose 71-year-old mother in Iran was denied a tourist visa to visit her in Los Angeles. In the last few days he checked and was told he could not go there yet, due to the pandemic order.
“I am very exhausted by this situation,” Darbani, 36, said. “I want to ask President Biden to lift all travel bans and help us. Please, please help us.”
Many people are worried about long waits for visas, said Manar Waheed, a senior law attorney and advocate for the American Civil Liberties Union.
“There are embassies closed all over the world because of COVID, so there’s that piece,” Waheed said. “But we’ve also seen so many parts of our immigration system really stopped and wasted by the Trump administration, so it’s about rebuilding those systems.”
What is known as a “Muslim ban” or “travel ban” was first imposed in 2017, then reformed amid legal challenges, until the Supreme Court upheld a version in 2018. It affected several categories. of travelers and immigrants from Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Syria and Libya, as well as North Koreans and some Venezuelan government officials and their families. In 2020, immigration bands were added that affected several other nations.
Trump and others have defended him for national security reasons, arguing that he would make the U.S. safer from terrorism. Political supporters rejected the argument that it was rooted in an anti-Muslim bias, saying it was aimed at protecting the country.
By reversing the ban, the new administration says it intends to strengthen the exchange of information with other countries and implement a rigorous and individualized verification system for visa applicants.
It is unclear whether he will arrive too late in Anwar Alsaeedi, also from Yemen, who hoped to provide his two children with a better future. He rejoiced in 2017 when he was chosen for the lottery’s “diversity visa” interview only to be considered ineligible because of the ban.
“Our country is embroiled in wars and crises and we have lost everything,” Alsaeedi said. “Getting to America is a big dream.”
Some of whose dreams were shattered ended up looking for them elsewhere.
Moayed Kossa, a Syrian pharmacy graduate who hoped to found a cosmetics company bearing her last name, had won a scholarship to study business administration in the United States after her country’s civil war led her to flee to Jordan. A few days before he traveled, the U.S. embassy in Amman summoned him and canceled his visa.
Instead, he ended up studying in Italy and is not sure if he will apply for an American visa again even though his brother now lives there.
“It’s not always easy,” Kossa said, “to try to open a door that was closed.”
___
Associated Press writer Julie Watson in San Diego contributed to this report.
___
Associated Press religious coverage is supported by Lilly Endowment through The Conversation US. The AP is solely responsible for this content.