CLEVELAND, Ohio — About two dozen Cleveland Clinic doctors gathered this morning to show their support for colleague Dr. Suha Abushamma, a resident who was detained and unable to return to the United States over the weekend due to President Trump’s executive order on immigration.
Holding photos of Abushamma and signs reading “#BringSuhaBack,” the group stood silently in the Clinic’s Miller Pavilion at 7 a.m., only speaking to say the pledge of allegiance.
Drs. Hans Arora and Manoj Manga, who organized the gathering, said they simply wanted to voice their support for Abushamma and express their belief in the value of diversity, inclusion, and acceptance.
“Many people are affected by this,” said Arora, a urology resident. “They’re our mentors, our friends, our patients.”
Abushamma, 26, of Cleveland Heights, lived in Saudi Arabia before being hired at the Clinic as an internal medicine resident. She is a Muslim woman and a citizen of Sudan.
Abushamma was detained and forced to return to Saudi Arabia last week in the wake of Trump’s executive order on immigration. She has a work visa, but left the U.S. to visit family and was not able to return because her passport is from Sudan, one of the seven majority-Muslim countries targeted by the order.
The health system has said it will do its best to help Abushamma and other doctors and patients who are have been affected by the executive order, which was signed last Friday.
“We’re very lucky to be in a place that has been so supportive,” said Arora.
More than 400 doctors, nurses, and doctoral candidates signed an open letter to Clinic leadership this week, asking the hospital to denounce its perceived connections to the Trump administration, specifically citing a February fundraiser to be held at the Trump-owned Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
The Clinic has said that event will continue as planned, but that the health system is not obligated to hold any events there in the future.
The message from doctors gathered this morning was more positive, including signs that read “All are welcome here, all are safe here,” “My mentors come from all countries,” and “World Class Care for everyone.”
Dr. Christine Tran, chief resident in urology, said it was very important for her to be with the small group.
“My parents were refugees from the Vietnam war so this strikes pretty close to my heart,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.
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