A 12-year-old Yemeni girl, who has spent the last week stranded in Djibouti, will finally be able to travel to the United States and will land in San Francisco on Sunday after a federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's travel ban on people from seven predominantly Muslim countries.
Since Saturday, the girl, Eman, and her father, Ahmed Ali, have been in limbo, blocked from coming to America, despite going through all the necessary legal steps.
The family's attorney Katy Lewis said the duo will board a flight in under six hours. Then, at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, a Turkish Airlines plane will transport them to San Francisco International Airport.
Seattle-based U.S. District Judge James Robart's temporary restraining order, allowed Eman and Ahmed Ali to board the flight, according to Lewis.
Lewis said that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers worldwide have been informed of Robart's nationwide halt to the refugee and travel ban. So "nationals of the seven countries with valid visas will be allowed to board aircraft bound for the U.S.," she said. Airlines are to be informed of the same, too, Lewis said.
A Southern California district court's temporary restraining order against the immigration order gave the family some hope earlier in the week. But Lewis said it was not as simple as showing a travel document to airport officials and getting on a plane. There's been too much confusion about how the executive order works.
So the duo were forced to stay in Djibouti.
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"She is really sad," Ahmed Ali said at the time. "She is expecting to go to the USA to see her mom, her sisters and everything will be OK."
From his hotel room, stuck in Djibouti, Ahmed told NBC Bay Area how he and Eman were steps away from boarding a plane Saturday, only to be turned away because of the president's order. The rest of Iman's family lives in Los Banos, citizens of the United States. Eman was born in Yemen.
Meanwhile, Stanford University student Hadil Al-Mowafak is hoping the ban is lifted for good. The 21-year-old is a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit filed today in San Francisco by the ACLU.
Arguing that the travel ban is unconstitutional, Al-Mowafak said it will prevent her from being able to go home to Yemen and see her husband while pursuing her education in the United States.
"I can't imagine not seeing [him] for a year, let alone four years,” she said.
On Friday, the Trump administration said the Department of Justice will file an emergency request to stop Robart’s temporary restraining order.
For her part, Al-Mowafak says she is proud to fight for travel freedoms.
“I am holding on to hope,” she said.
