Yemeni mother wins battle to visit dying 2-year-old son despite Trump’s travel ban

Father of dying child says he hopes his wife 'can make it in time and see her son in his last hours'

A Yemeni mother who wanted to visit America and give her dying two-year-old a “kiss before he goes” has been granted a visa to enter the country.

Ali Hassan, an American citizen whose son, Abdullah, is suffering from a genetic brain condition and whose wife, Shaima Swileh, has been barred from the US due to Donald Trump’s travel restrictions, has spent recent days pleading on national news outlets for the reunification of his family.

“Time is running out for my son, to be honest,” he said on Tuesday morning during an interview with CNN, just hours before the US State Department granted Ms Swileh an I-130 visa for family members of American citizens. “All she wishes is to see her son, and that's it. We want to be together.”

She will now travel on the next flight from Egypt to California — a trek that could take upwards of 20 hours — with money donated through a fundraising effort on her behalf.

Ms Swileh — who lives in Egypt — has been prevented from visiting the US under the latest White House guidelines restricting travel from several Muslim-majority nations and a few other countries.

Her husband made the urgent plea to Mr Trump to grant his wife a visa so she could say goodbye and attend a funeral for her son, whose second birthday was Saturday.

“All families, they're supposed to be together. Right now, with my son's situation, he's facing death. I'm going through losing my son. It's really hard for me and for my mother and for my family and my wife, too. It's just really hard,” he said before the visa was granted.

Now, Mr Hassan has told CNN he hopes “she can make it in time and see her son in his last hours”.

With the genetic brain condition Abdullah is suffering from, most patients typically survive anywhere from a few weeks to a month with the help of life support.

The two-year-old child has reportedly been using a ventilator for nearly a month while staying at the University of California San Francisco's Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland.

While the State Department declined to comment on individual visa cases, the agency released a statement saying it makes “every effort to facilitate legitimate travel by international visitors.”