Woman Dies After She’s Denied Entry into the US Because of Trump’s #MuslimBan

In the first week of Trump’s presidency, the new Head of State issued an executive order restricting entry into the United States for immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations. The order, which has been branded as the #MuslimBan, has sparked controversy around the globe. Thousands of people have filled the streets and gathered at airports across the country to protest the unethical order. Since the establishment of the travel ban, hundreds of immigrants have been turned away at the border and deported, unable to reunite with their family and friends in America. Others have experienced much worst, in the wake of the ban.

According to reports, an elderly woman, who lived in the Land of the Free since 1995, passed away one day after being denied entry into the United States.

The woman’s son, Mike Hager, said his mother, who was battling an illness, was turned away from boarding a flight from Iraq to the US for medial treatment, despite providing her green card. As Hager took his mother away from the airport, the last thing she said to him was that the Trump administration had “destroyed” their family. One day later, the woman died.

“They destroyed us. I went with my family, I came back by myself. They destroyed our family,” Hager told reporters. “The immigration [officer] told us that the President of the United States put an order right now – you guys cannot go.”

“I was just shocked,” he said. “I had to put my mum back on the wheelchair and take her back and call the ambulance and she was very, very upset. She knew right there if we send her back to the hospital she’s going to pass away – she’s not going to make it.”

During the Gulf War, Hager and his family fled to a refugee camp. After four years, they moved to Detroit where his mother would remain. In the 2000s, Hager went back to Iraq to work for the US Special forces for five years.

“I really believe this in my heart: if they would have let us in, my mum – would have made it and she would have been sitting right here next to me,” he said, blaming Trump for his mother’s death. “She’s gone because of him. This is our home. We’ve been here for too long, we’ve been here since we were kids. If I’m not wanted overseas in Iraq and I’m not wanted here, then where do I go? What am I supposed to do with my family?”

“You put the terrorists on the side, the bad people, but don’t mix everybody together,” Hager added.