NEWS

Kurdish family headed to Nashville sent back to Iraq

Ariana Maia Sawyer

USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

A Kurdish family of five on their way to Nashville were stopped in Cairo before they could board their connecting flight Saturday after President Donald Trump's travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries.

Fuad Suleman, center, with his wife and three children arrive back in Erbil, Iraq, after officials at Cairo International Airport told the family they could not continue on a connecting flight to New York's JFK Airport on their way to Nashville Jan. 28, 2017. Instead, they were sent back to Iraq.

Fuad Sharef Suleman, his wife, Arazoo Ibrahim, and their three children were escorted from Cairo International Airport back to Iraq, even though they had valid visas to enter the United States, Suleman said.

Suleman called the executive order an act of racism and discrimination.

"I did not know the president can sign such orders," he said. "Because it looks like those autocratic leaders in corrupt countries, not in a democratic modern country like America."

Suleman and his family are now stranded with no home and no transportation after having already sold their house, most of their belongings and their vehicles. Suleman quit his job at a pharmaceutical company, Ibrahim resigned from her position as a kindergarten teacher and their children, ages 10-19, left their schools.

They're staying in a family member's house until they figure out what to do next.

Trump signed an executive order Friday banning legal travel by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen for at least three months. The order also suspends the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program for at least four months. After the initial bans, the nation will only accept travelers from countries with “sufficient safeguards” to ensure the “security and welfare of the United States.”

Syrian refugees are barred indefinitely.

Suleman used to work as a regional translator for RTI International, a research organization with a contract through a U.S. government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and promote democracy abroad. Because those who work with the American government in Iraq are in mortal danger from groups like the Islamic State, Suleman and his family were given special immigrant visas to come to the United States.

Erbil, where the family is from, is in Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous region in Northern Iraq. Kurdistan is home to the Kurdish Peshmerga — one of the U.S. military's most reliable allies in the fight against ISIS.

Nashville has the largest population of ethnic Kurds in the United States, with estimates ranging from 12,000 to 17,000. The number is difficult to pinpoint because it's not measured by the U.S. Census. Many of the American Kurds came as refugees during the early '90s after Saddam Hussein attacked them using chemical weapons.

In a statement, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry said hearing of this family reminded her of the Suleymans, a Kurdish refugee family Nashville welcomed more than three decades ago. Jiyayi Suleyman was the first American Kurd hired by the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department.

"I know that our city would have embraced and welcomed this family just as we did the Suleymans in 1991 and so many other immigrant and refugee families before and since," Barry said. "This arbitrary ban on individuals from certain countries entering the United States is wrong in every way."

Sen. Steve Dickerson, R-Nashville, said Sunday that while he'd like to see a review of the federal refugee policy and immigration policy, Trump's order goes too far.

"Nashville and Davidson County have long been home to refugees. They make our community stronger and embody the American Dream to the fullest," he said in a statement. "A full ban, based on country of origin, is contrary to bedrock American values, and, in the end, will only serve to empower our enemies abroad."

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Suleman, 51, said he chose Nashville because of its Kurdish community and because he has friends who live here.

"And I read on the internet that Nashville is a growing city, quality of life is good there, jobs are available, crime rates are very, very low, so these are points that encouraged me to choose Nashville," he said.

Cairo officials told Suleman that the U.S. embassy in Baghdad sent a message to officials there that the family were not allowed in the U.S., he said.

"When I was looking at the faces of my wife, my children, they were about to faint," he said. "They turned pale, and I told them to sit down and drink some water. It was a terrible moment."

Fuad Suleman's wife and three children wait at Cairo International Airport after being told they cannot continue on a connecting flight to New York's JFK Airport on their way to Nashville Jan. 28, 2017.

Trump reaffirmed his decision Sunday on Twitter: "Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world — a horrible mess!"

And Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., lauded Trump's order as "responsible," saying that U.S. intelligence agencies need time to "ascertain the scope of the Islamic terror threat in order to develop proper refugee vetting protocols — if possible."

Suleman described himself as a secular family man who loves the diversity of America and said he hates extremists who use religion to justify killing people.

But he isn't very happy with Trump either.

"How do you see all people — I mean the whole nation in a certain country — all at the same level?" he said. "No, this is not correct. This is not the right way to deal with people."

Reach Ariana Sawyer at asawyer@tennessean.com or on Twitter @a_maia_sawyer. USA TODAY also contributed to this report.