The federal government has granted boarding documents to a 4-month-old Iranian girl who needs a life-saving surgery and was prevented from entering the U.S. due to President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration, New York’s governor said Friday.
"This evening we were pleased to learn that the federal government has now granted Fatemeh Reshad and her family boarding documents to come to the United States," Cuomo said in a statement.
The girl needs heart surgery. The family’s attorney told NBC affiliate KGW in Oregon that it was planned that she would get care at Oregon Health & Science University, but the baby and her mother were turned away in Dubai because of the order. The girl’s grandparents are U.S. citizens living in Oregon.
Trump's Jan. 27 executive order suspends entry to the U.S. for 90 days by nationals of seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Iran. Trump said the order is necessary to protect Americans from terrorism.
"Bizarrely, the federal ban would prevent this child from receiving medical care and literally endanger her life," Cuomo, a Democrat, said in the statement. "It is repugnant to all we believe as Americans and as members of the human family."
Related: Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Immigration Order Nationwide
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat, spoke out on the House floor about the girl’s situation, and called the delay "disgraceful."
Cuomo said he worked with the International Refugee Assistance Project and their partners, and will continue to work with the group to help the child get medical treatment.
Cuomo said the pediatric cardiac surgical team at Mount Sinai Hospital has offered to provide care at no cost, and the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP has offered to pay for travel expenses to and from New York and to cover housing costs in the city.
Also Friday, a federal judge in Seattle temporarily blocked Trump’s immigration order, and the state’s attorney general says the restraining order applies nationwide.
The White House said it will seek an emergency stay against the judge’s order.
