A Syrian-American family who voted for President Donald Trump received the shock of their lives over the weekend when they found out that six of their relatives had been deported thanks to Trump’s Muslim ban.
Sarmad Assali and her husband live in an Orthodox Christian neighborhood in Allentown, Pennsylvania and both voted for Trump in November. However, the president rewarded their loyalty by deporting Assali’s two brothers-in-law, along with their wives and children back to Damascus, Syria shortly after they arrived back to Philidelphia International Airport. Her relatives were sent back despite having valid U.S. visas.
“It was a shock,” she says. “If [Trump] had an issue with them entering the United States, we should have been told about it. It should have been discussed. We should be able to get some legal help in there. … The way they were returned in a two-hour period, it was just devastating.”
Assali stated that her family members are safe at the moment back in Damascus, but speculates that had authorities not rushed her family back on a flight to Doha, she may have been able to find attornies to help sort things out on American soil.
“They weren’t even allowed to make a phone call and let us know what is going on,” she says. “They had to beg the employees to call us, to let us know that they were being returned.”
President Trump signed an executive order on Friday banning immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries which include: Lybia, Yemen, Somalia, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, and Syria. The ban is said to last only 120 days or may remain wholly or partially intact.
Assali expressed her shock upon learning that her relatives’ US visas were no longer being honored by the government under the Trump administration.
“This was our rights, our constitution lists that, so I don’t know how it can be taken away from us,” she says. “The safety of America is number one, but we should consider what we’re doing before we throw it out there at people.”
When asked if she was still a Trump supporter after he had stabbed her in the back, Assali still could not bring herself to regret her vote.
“I am a supporter of the constitution of the United States, and the freedom that we have here,” she says. “I don’t know what [Trump’s] going to do next or if I support what he’s gonna do. I can’t tell at this point.”
There’s a strong urge to laugh and gloat over Assali’s situation after she literally voted against her own interest. However, her story is just another example of how Trump managed to con so many Americans into working against the rights and values they cherish. Hopefully, Assali will be able to get her relatives back to the U.S. safe and sound.
It’s amazing how strong Trump’s pull is even on supporters who realize that he’d betrayed their trust. One can only imagine the pathetic rationalizations that millions of his supporters will come up with once they lose their health insurance.
However, Assali will probably have four more years to fully appreciate the destruction her vote has brought on not just her family but all Americans.
Featured image via YouTube.
