Yemeni American Commits Suicide After Trump Travel Ban Bars His Family
Source: Huffington Post
07/29/2018 01:15 am ET
Tragic death underscores toll of harsh immigration policies.
By Mary Papenfuss
U.S. citizen's family was denied visas under Trump's travel ban.
Then he died by suicide.
In the early morning hours of July 18, Mahmood Salem told his family over the phone that he had a gun in his hand and was going to kill himself.
The Yemeni U.S. citizen had called his family after turning off the lights, locking the doors and flipping the sign to closed at Fat Boys grocery store in Crowley, Louisiana, his family said. From his apartment in the back of the store, Salem, 31, phoned his wife and five children who were living in Djibouti on the east coast of Africa. Salem’s three youngest kids are U.S. citizens, but his wife and two oldest are not — and they were denied visas under President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
Salem was one of thousands of Yemeni-Americans separated from non-U.S. citizen family members by the presidential proclamation. The travel ban blocks immigration from seven countries, including business, visitor, lottery, or family reunification visas for Yemenis. In effect since December, the ban was upheld by the Supreme Court in June.
During his last phone call with his family in Djibouti, relatives said Salem told them he didn’t have enough money to support them in Djibouti, where rent can be six times higher than in Yemen.
Read more: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mahmood-salem-kills-self-when-family-is-barred-from-us-trip-american_us_5b5cfcbfe4b0de86f497a9b1
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