{"id":1771,"date":"2018-08-04T23:05:44","date_gmt":"2018-08-04T20:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/?p=1771"},"modified":"2018-08-04T23:05:44","modified_gmt":"2018-08-04T20:05:44","slug":"yemeni-american-kills-himself-after-muslim-ban-stops-visas-to-his-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/yemeni-american-kills-himself-after-muslim-ban-stops-visas-to-his-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Yemeni American kills himself after Muslim ban stops visas to his family"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Yemeni American News<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Muslim ban is not a legal argument or a talking point; it has been a real policy that impacts the lives of American citizens and their loved ones in the most tragic way.
\nOn July 18, Mahmood Salem took his own life in Crowley, Louisiana, leaving behind a wife and five children who had been abandoned by the Statue of Liberty\u2019s promise of freedom and opportunity.
\nSalem\u2019s family had been stranded in Djibouti waiting for visas to join their father who is a US citizen. Three of the children are American as well, but the wife and two oldest ones are not.
\nThe journey to Djibouti is not an uncommon one for Yemeni applicants, especially after the war broke out.
\nBut since the Supreme Court allowed Trump\u2019s Muslim ban to go into effect, those who had made the trip to the Horn of Africa became stuck in limbo – Yemen\u2019s war behind them and America\u2019s doors sealed with a big lock of bigotry in their faces.
\nSalem had to take care of himself in the US while covering the expenses of his family in Djibouti, amid rising rental prices.
\nThe economic pressure was growing, and being separated from one\u2019s family is traumatizing.
\nSalem phoned his family before turning the gun on himself in his apartment at the back of a grocery store where he worked. He was 31.
\nThe family had been granted preliminary visa approval before the ban went into effect.
\nYemen, which is enduring a brutal war involving US-made bombs and fighter jets, is one of seven countries whose citizens are banned from the US under Trump\u2019s Supreme Court-approved executive order.
\nWhile the State Department says that waivers can be granted to visa applicants caused undue harm by the ban, the policy has been nothing but an empty promise.
\nThe waivers are too few and far between. Furthermore, immigration experts say that there is no defined process or standard for granting the exception.
\nMimun Salem blamed the immigration ordeal for his younger brother\u2019s suicide.
\n\u201cI\u2019ll say it\u2019s the first and main reason. I could give it 90 percent,\u201d he told NBC. \u201cHe cannot bring them here and at the same time, he cannot take them back to Yemen\u201d because of the war ravaging that country.
\nIndeed, immigration-related anxiety can be crippling, experts say.
\n\u201cStress and depression in the immigrant community have always been there, but it is heightened now. I see more children being very distressed about the possibility that a parent will be deported,\u201d Johns Hopkins psychiatrist Rheanna Platt told The Pew Center\u2019s Stateline.
\nTrump\u2019s critics say Salem\u2019s tragedy exemplifies the suffering of immigrants under the US president.
\n\u201cThe Supreme Court of the United States has condoned this cruelty. The Muslim Ban is racist and cruel. Mahmood Salem\u2019s suicide is a reminder,\u201d activist Mona Eltahawy wrote on Twitter.
\nYemeni American activist Debbie Almontaser called the Muslim ban a \u201csilent killer in directly impacted communities.\u201d
\nDemocratic Congresswoman Yvette D Clarke, of New York, blamed Trump\u2019s cruel policies for the death of Salem.
\n\u201cOn Friday, Mahmood Salem, a Yemeni in Crowley, Louisiana took his life thinking he\u2019d never see his family. Another casualty of 45\u2019s inhumane policies. #FamiliesBelongTogether,\u201d she tweeted.
\nCommunity organizer Faiza Ali said the incident shows the real life and death consequences of Trump\u2019s \u201cbigoted policies.\u201d
\nAdvocacy group MoveOn wrote: \u201cCondolences to Mahmood Salem\u2019s family who took his life after failing to reunite his family due to Trump\u2019s immoral Muslim Ban which causes harm to Muslim and immigrant communities across the country\u2013from our borders to our homes. #NoMuslimBanEver.\u201d
\nSalem\u2019s wife and children were issued visas five days after his death, according to NBC, highlighting the government\u2019s ability to resolve immigration issues quickly if it wants to.<\/p>\n

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