Washington, D.C. – Oregon politicians are urging the Trump administration to issue a waiver to allow a 4-month-old Iranian girl to fly to Portland for a life-saving heart surgery.
According to a press release, the young girl named Fatemeh needs corrective surgery from Oregon Health Sciences University.
Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, Senator Ron Wyden, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, Congressman Peter DeFazio and Congressman Kurt Schrader sent a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asking him to grant a visa waiver from the Trump administration’s ban on travel from seven countries which includes Iran.
The release said “Fatemeh’s uncle lives in Portland, Oregon, along with her grandparents. All three of them are U.S. citizens and helped the infant’s parents apply for tourist visas. The parents were on their way to Dubai for a scheduled interview at the U.S. Embassy there when, due to Trump’s recent Executive Order banning travel from Iran, the family’s interview was canceled.”
The lawmakers wrote, “Whether Fatemeh and her family are allowed access to this urgent and necessary medical care in the United States will determine whether she lives or dies. Granting her family’s request to travel to the U.S. is not only the moral and humanitarian decision, but would signal to Iran and the rest of the world that, even in the face of highly strained diplomatic relations, the United States offers help to those suffering tragic circumstances.”
Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley said President Trump’s recent executive order that waters down financial regulations is “an industry wish list that will help Wall Street at the expense of working families.”
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