A boisterous crowd of about 100 greeted a stunned young Iraqi couple and their three wide-eyed daughters at Portland International Airport Sunday night, the first refugees to land here since the controversial travel ban was rescinded by a federal judge last week.
Mustapha Mohamed, a former interpreter for U.S. Forces in Iraq and member of the Iraqi security forces, had worked and waited for four years to get a Visa that would allow him and his family to relocate. Just when they thought they’d gotten approval, President Trump signed his executive order temporarily banning visitors from Iraq and six other Muslim-majority countries.
“They were originally scheduled to arrive on Friday,” said Matt dos Santos, head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon. “But they got caught up in the shameful executive order, which we contend is illegal and unconstitutional.”
Catholic Charities of Portland played an instrumental role in getting the family here. The organization feared all their work was in vain after President Trump’s executive order. “It took a very bold judge in Seattle to make this happen,” said Richard Birkel, Catholic Charities executive director in Portland.
Fadha, Mohamed’s cousin who lives in Beaverton, was among the welcoming crowd. She paid $5,000 for the family’s flights, she said. Fadha, who didn’t want to give her last name, immigrated herself to the U.S. in 1993 after the first Gulf War. She was 13.
Fadha was frantic when her cousin got held up by the travel ban. His service to the U.S. mililtary and the three years of vetting by U.S. immigration authorities seemed to count for little, she said after the new President signed the travel ban order.
“I talked to every government official I could think of,” she said.
Iit was a lawsuit brought by Bob Ferguson, Attorney General for the state of Washington, that finally paved the way. Judge James Robart, a George W. Bush appointee, on Friday issued a temporary restraining order banning enforcement nationwide of the travel ban.
Members of the crowd shouted “Welcome,” and “We love you,” as the family arrived at PDX ticket lobby. Several stuffed cash into the hands of the local sponsors of the Iraqi family.
Portland Police Chief Mike Marshman was among the greeting party. He said the Police Bureau makes it a practice to reach out to new immigrants, who know little about how the local system works and can be easy prey for con artists. Marshman said he also wanted to reach out “cop to cop” to Mohammed given his background working security for the U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
Mohamed said only “thank you,” repeatedly. Fadha, his cousin, said the family was too exhausted to talk much. “They’ve been traveling for days, from Baghdad to Qatar to New York and to Phoenix and now Portland, and always the three-year-old cries,” she said.
The three-year-old was all smiles Sunday night. Someone had given her a handful of helium balloons, which she gazed up at adoringly as they walked toward the airport exit. — Jeff Manning
jmanning@oregonian.com, 503-294-7606
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