Saturday was a heartbreaking day for a father in Connecticut from Syria who was supposed to reunite with his wife and daughters who he hasn’t seen in more than two years.
Before they could board their flight to the United States, they were turned away – part of the group not allowed entry to the country following orders from President Donald Trump.
“It’s the reaction of every father. Every father wants to see his kids,” Fadi Kassar of Milford, said through a translator.
Kassar’s wife and daughters, ages 5 and 8, had been stranded at an airport in Kiev, Ukraine.
They are refugees originally from Syria. The three were moments from boarding a flight to the U.S. when they were turned away early Saturday morning.
“Now they are back in Jordan. They don’t have luggages. They don’t have clothes to wear. They don’t have anything,” Kassar said.
President Trump’s order blocked all refugees from coming to the U.S. for four months.
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But the president suspended Syrian refugees indefinitely.
“I want him to know that in America there are human rights and we are honest and nice people and we love America and we love the American people,” Kassar said.
Kassar says his own journey to join family in the U.S. was difficult.
And he’s spent years earning the money to fly his family here and go through the asylum process.
He hopes the president rethinks the ban.
“I’m not against him looking for things that will protect the United States. But these are innocent kids, innocent families,” Kassar said.
The mother and girls are staying with neighbors in Jordan.
They’re hoping to get an exception from the government to be able to come here.
