A family from Yemen waited years for immigration visits to come to the United States. But now, only three of the four children are with their parents in San Francisco as their 10-year-old sister is stuck in Egypt waiting for the U.S. Embassy to issue a long overdue visa.
“Pain, I'm in pain every day crying,” said the mother Sumayah Albadani as she spoke about leaving her daughter Raghad Saleht.
“It was the hardest moment of my life,” she said. “I left her and she was crying saying, ‘please wait a little.’”
As the San Francisco Chronicle first reported, after years of planning and paperwork, the family left war-torn Yemen to join the children's father in San Francisco earlier this year.
Their immigration visas were approved but when they arrived, Raghads was missing.
Their attorney says the U.S. Embassy assured them it would be issued.
“They said the visa should be issued shortly but unfortunately in the meantime, President Trump issued a ban on immigrant visas, ban on new immigrant visas,” said attorney Amir Naim.
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He says the family had to be in the United States by July 1 or their visas would expire.
So they made the difficult choice to leave Raghad in Egypt with a neighbor. A month later, her mother says the girl is not doing well.
