Nashville-Bound Kurdish Family Initially Forced to Return to Iraq Cleared to Enter U.S.

NASHVILLE, TN — A Kurdish family bound for Nashville and stopped on their way to the United States by President Donald Trump's immigration executive orders has been cleared to enter the country, according to Rep. Jim Cooper.

Cooper said the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad was given "revised guidance" to allow Iraqi special immigrant holders to travel to the U.S.

“Swift action by many committed U.S. State Department employees allowed our nation to right a wrong and fulfill its promise to the Sharef family,” Rep. Cooper said. “In America, we should honor our commitments.”

Fuad Sharef Suleman worked as a translator following the United States' invasion of Iraq in 2003. He and his family of five — including his wife Arazoo, 19-year-old son Bnyad and daughters Yad, 17, and Shad, 1o — went through the years-long process to secure visas to the United States, saved their money and sold their home. On January 28, they left Iraq, first for a flight to Cairo, then New York and, finally, Nashville.

The Sharefs are Kurds and Nashville, after all, is the home of the largest Kurdish population in the world outside of Kurdistan. By the time the Sharefs arrived in Cairo, however, President Donald Trump had signed the executive order suspending the United States' refugee program and suspended for three months admittance of citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iraq. They were told they would not be permitted to board their plane to New York.

The Sharefs, who had nothing to go back to, now had nowhere to go.

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

He told ABC News that his work with non-governmental organization that subcontracted with the American government puts him and his family in danger if they return to Iraq.

"For the terrorists if you work for the Americans you become a target, they consider you an infidel," he told ABC. "Our visas are legal and valid until May 2017. And I've received this visa because I put my life in jeopardy working with American government."

A GoFundMe campaign to help the Sharefs was launched Monday. Becca Wadness, a Harvard University Middle Eastern studies graduate student who worked with Bnyad while he was studying in the U.S., launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $20,000, which she says she'll wire to the Sharefs. In less than a day, the campaign had already reached more than half its goal.

"What an incredible 24 hours it has been. Thank you to everyone who has donated to support the Sharef family and share their story, Your generosity has been remarkable, as we have raised nearly half of our final goal within the first day. I am personally so grateful and truly inspired by your support," Wadness wrote.

Image via GoFundMe