By Ayenat Mersie and Libby George
NAIROBI/LAGOS, Nigeria, Feb 3 (Reuters) - An Eritrean father
yearning to be reunited with his four children after 15 years
apart. An American woman adopting a Nigerian toddler. A Nigerian
man desperate to be with his American wife and children.
These are some of the families waiting to see how they will
be affected by President Donald Trump's expansion of the U.S.
travel ban.
Awet, who asked that Reuters use a nickname to avoid
reprisals against his family, fled Eritrea in 2005. He is now a
U.S. citizen.
Awet described how he hugged his four young children hard,
whispering only to his weeping mother that he was leaving
forever. For three days, he said, he hid under rocks by day and
dodged hyenas and soldiers at night as he tried to cross the
border.
Awet spent four years as a refugee in Ethiopia and Kenya
before being resettled to the United States in 2009. When a 2018
peace deal between Ethiopia and Eritrea made it possible for the
children to leave Eritrea safely, he finally dared hope he would
see them again. Awet had been trying to bring his children over
on family visas for the past year.
But on Friday, Trump, a Republican, issued an expanded
version of his travel ban that suspended immigrant visas - a
category that includes family visas - for Eritreans and
Nigerians. The other countries with new restrictions are
Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Tanzania and Sudan.
U.S. Homeland Security acting Secretary Chad Wolf said the
restrictions were needed because the six countries had failed to
meet U.S. security and information-sharing standards. But U.S.
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat,
called the ban "discrimination disguised as policy."
“Trump's new law, for us, it's very hurtful,” said Awet,
speaking by phone from his home in the United States. “At least
let the children in ... those who want to come to be with their
mother or father.”
Awet said he is still praying that he will see his children
- now aged 14-18 - again one day. Their mother is in the Middle
East.
"I'm leaving it to God," he told Reuters.
"God and a lawyer," his attorney Kari Scofield chimed in.
"YOU ARE POWERLESS"
In the West African powerhouse of Nigeria, 37-year-old
Californian Lynsey Elston is waiting to find out if or when her
newly adopted daughter will be able to meet the rest of the
family back in the United States.
The former social worker always wanted to adopt.
Three-year-old Eliana Ezinne arrived at her home in Nigeria on
Christmas Eve 2019 after years of paperwork, interviews and
uncertainty.
"This is my child," she said as she cuddled the sleepy girl.
"I can't be separated from my child."
Hasan Shafiqullah, head of the Immigration Law Unit at The
Legal Aid Society in New York, told Reuters that Elston can
apply for Eliana's citizenship only from inside the United
States, and Eliana can enter only on an immigrant visa.
The 2017 version of the travel ban outlines which groups can
qualify for waivers, including adoptees, and the expanded ban
says it will follow the same guidelines. But the system for
obtaining waivers has proven opaque and difficult to navigate,
and there is an ongoing federal lawsuit challenging the
government's implementation of the process.
"The emotion I am feeling is anger,” Elston said at her home
in an upscale neighbourhood of Lagos.
In the same city, a 38-year-old Nigerian man quit his job
last month as he prepared to move to the United States with his
two toddlers and wife - all U.S. citizens. He asked for
anonymity to avoid prejudicing his visa application.
The man said his mother and two sisters, also U.S. citizens,
live in America, and he studied there and lived there for a
decade. He wanted his children to grow up near his family, he
said, and he considers America his second home.
Asked what he will do if he cannot get a visa to move with
his family, he drew in a long, slow breath and went silent.
"I'm afraid to even consider that," he said at last. “You
really are powerless."
Graphic on visas https://tmsnrt.rs/36Hy2zz
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