[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 1, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H826-H827]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     ALI FAMILY AND EXECUTIVE ORDER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Costa) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to a 12-year-
old girl Emon Ali, who is stuck in Djibouti. Emon and her father, Ahmed 
Ali, who is an American citizen, are in Djibouti because of President 
Trump's flawed executive order to ban travel to the United States.
  The Ali family is like many immigrant families throughout our 
country, including my own, who came to the United States in hopes of 
achieving the American Dream.
  As Americans, we know that the Statute of Liberty is a symbol of 
freedom and new beginnings for immigrants past and present, and it is a 
symbol around the entire world for the values that America holds.
  Since the founding of our country, immigrants from all over the world 
have been coming to the United States to make a better life for 
themselves and their families, or to escape persecution.
  Mr. Ali and his wife immigrated to the United States and earned their 
U.S. citizenships in hopes of achieving that American Dream.
  They had been making a living in my district and are supporting their 
two daughters in Los Banos, California. But they have also been living 
in sadness and heartbreak because their 12-year-old daughter, Emon, was 
born in Yemen before the civil war.
  For 6 years, the Ali family has been working through the appropriate 
channels to get their daughter a visa so she can gain U.S. citizenship 
and be reunited with her family legally.
  On January 26, after years of going through a thorough vetting 
process, Emon finally received her immigrant visa--after 6 years. You 
could call that extreme vetting.
  One day later, on the 27th, President Trump turned the Ali family's 
and hundreds of other families' lives upside down by signing an 
executive order to implement a travel ban to prohibit refugees and 
others from coming to the United States. That is not the American way.
  Hours after this executive order was signed, Emon and her father went 
to the airport in Djibouti, passed through security, and, when boarding 
the plane, Emon was told by the airline that she could not board 
because of the recently signed executive order.

                              {time}  1030

  The immigrant visa issued to Emon would have given her status as a 
lawful permanent resident upon entering the U.S. And since she is 12 
years old and both of her parents are U.S. citizens, Emon would have 
immediately been eligible to file for U.S. citizenship.
  President Trump's executive order is preventing this legal process 
from taking place and is putting Emon and her father in harm's way 
while they wait in Djibouti.
  In the past 48 hours, the Trump administration has been defending 
this executive order, saying it is not a travel ban or a ban on 
refugees. So I would like to ask the President: How is this executive 
order not a ban on refugees or individuals who have been legally 
approved to enter the United States? It certainly is a ban for Emon. 
And how is keeping this 12-year-old girl out of the United States from 
joining her family making America safer? It is not making Americans 
safer.
  Extreme vetting was in place during both the Bush and Obama 
administrations. We just didn't call it that by name.
  This travel ban is flawed, both in its lack of adherence to American 
values and its technical execution, which is banning Emon from coming 
here, and it could possibly be ruled unconstitutional.
  A bipartisan group of national security experts agree that the 
executive order does not make Americans safer and could potentially put 
our country at greater risk for terrorist attacks. I agree with them.
  Since September 11, 2001, we have focused a bipartisan effort to 
improve

[[Page H827]]

American security for Americans both at home and abroad, and by and 
large, it has been very successful.
  It is our first constitutional duty to ensure the national defense 
and the safety of Americans, but I think President Trump's executive 
order is doing the opposite. The executive order will create a rallying 
cry for Islamic extremists around the world to say that America is now 
engaged in a war against the religion of Islam. No good can come from 
that. It is clear that this executive order is putting Emon and her 
father in harm's way in Djibouti.
  So, Mr. President, Secretary Kelly, I appeal to your compassion and 
to your common sense. This 12-year-old girl, Emon, has been extremely 
vetted for 6 years or whatever you would like to call it. She is not a 
threat to our country. Let her join her American family.
  My staff and I are working diligently through the appropriate 
channels with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of 
State to bring Mr. Ali and his daughter home as soon as possible.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are advised to direct their remarks 
to the Chair and not to the President.

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