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More Than 20 Yemeni Refugees Land In Los Angeles After Being Stranded By Travel Ban
(Photo by Matthew Dillon via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
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A group of over 20 Yemenis who had been stuck in Djibouti following President Trump's travel ban have finally landed in the United States, arriving at LAX at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. They were greeted by their lawyer, Julie Goldberg, and a small gathering of reporters. According to Goldberg, each one held an immigrant visa, and many are relatives of United States citizens. However, such visas had been revoked by the State Department, leaving her 28 clients stranded in Djibouti. Goldberg went to Djibouti, where she found families had been split up, Reuters reports.
Goldberg told KPCC, "These 28 people were not allowed to pick up their passports (from the U.S. Embassy). I have some families that are pretty devastated. I have a father who had his visa issued, and he got his passport, but his four-year-old child's is still at the embassy. It has created this separation among families."
Yemen was one of seven predominantly Muslim countries caught up in Trump's travel ban, which invalidated the visas of people traveling from those countries to the United States. Yemen has been in the midst of a civil war since 2015, with supporters of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi clashing with Houthi rebels. Thousands have been killed in air strikes, according to the BBC.
Many Yemenis have fled their home country for Djibouti. However, Goldberg said her clients were rapidly running out of money in Djibouti, and could not return to Yemen or "they would be killed."
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