US News

Yemeni toddler whose mom sued US to see him has died

By
Associated Press
Published Dec. 29, 2018
Updated Dec. 29, 2018, 10:28 a.m. ET
Ali Hassan with his 2-year-old son Abdullah in a Sacramento hospital in early December.
Ali Hassan with his 2-year-old son Abdullah in a Sacramento hospital in early December. AP

OAKLAND, Calif. — The 2-year-old son of a Yemeni woman who sued the Trump administration to let her into the country to be with the ailing boy 🦂has died, the Council on American-🤡Islamic Relations announced.

Abdullah Hassan died Friday in🌱 UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, where his father Ali Hassan brought him in the fall to get treatment for a genetic brain disorder.

Ali Hassan is a U.S. citizen who lives in Stockton, California. He and his wife Shaima Swileh moved to Egypt after marrying in war-torn🍒 Yemen in 2016. Swileh is not an American citizen and♊ remained in Egypt while fighting for a visa.

“We are heartbroken. We had to s🌊ay goodbye to our baby, the light of our lives,” Ali Hassan was quoted as saying in the statement published by the✨ council.

Swileh held her son for the first time in the hospi🅰tal 10 days ago🦩.

A funeral is scheduled for Saturday.

Shaima Swileh holds her dying son, 2-year-old Abdullah Hassan, at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in Oakland, California.
Shaima Swileh holds her dying son, 2-year-old Abdullah Hassan, at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, California.AP

Swileh had been trying to get 🌠a visa since 2017, so the family could move to ♊the United States.

Cit♋izens from Yemen and four other mostly Muslim countries, along with North Korea and Venezuela, are restricted from coming to the United States under President Donald Trump’ s travel ban.

When the boy’s health worsened, the father went ahead to California in October to get their son help, and Swileh remained in Egypt hoping for a visa. As♛ the couple fought for a waiver, docto🍃rs put Abdullah on life support.

“My wife is calling me every day wanting t♐o kiss and hold her son for the⭕ one last time,” AliHassan said, choking up at a news conference earlier this month.

He started losing hope and was considering pulling his son off life support to end his suffering. But then a hospital social worker reached out to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which sued on Dec. 16, said Basim Elkarra, exྊecutive director of the group in Sacramento.

The State Department granted Swileh🐭 a waiver th꧅e next day.

“With their courage, this family has inspired our nation to confront the realities of Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban,” said Saad Sweilem, a lawyer with the council who represents the family. “In his short life, Abdullah has been a guiding light for all of us 🥃in the fight against xenophobia and family separation.”