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Sirin Hamsho, an engineer with GE Renewable Energy in Schenectady who has been in Qatar with two young children since President Donald Trump issued his Jan. 27 travel ban, is hoping to get home to her husband in Niskayuna in the coming days.
Hamsho, who holds dual French and Syrian citizenship, feared she would be stuck in Qatar indefinitely since Trump’s executive order barred citizens from seven Muslim majority countries, including Syria, from entering the United States.
“I was on a business/personal trip to the Middle East when I heard that I might not be able to go back home, the reason? is simply because I was born in Syria! the wrong place according to Donald’s terminology,” Sirin wrote in a Jan. 31 Facebook post.
There has been a lot of confusion over whether dual citizens with one passport from a country like France would be allowed into the U.S.
Hamsho was in Qatar on a business and personal trip but feared she would be blocked trying to come back to New York. It is unclear if she tried to board a plane home or was told not to try.
However, that became moot after a federal judge in Washington State blocked the ban with a temporary restraining order on Friday.
“It’s been quite a week and I hope it is over now with the federal judge order to halt the unjust (executive order),” Hamsho wrote Sunday on her Facebook page thanking those who helped her clear up her case. “In the coming days I should be able to go back home. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, you are the people, you are the real America!”
Hamsho said that GE attorneys and staff had assisted her in the case, and so did U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko.
GE spokeswoman Chris Horne said Monday she did not have any updates on Hamsho’s travel plans and when she would be returning to the United States. Horne would not say if Hamsho, who designs wind turbnes, was in Qatar on GE business.
“We are all anxiously waiting for a reply from Sirin,” Rabbi Glenn Jacob, a friend, told the Times Union.
Sirin could not immediately be reached for comment Monday. Jacob said she had been advised by her attorney to reveal as little as possible about her travel plans.
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