Children needing medical care in the United States are experiencing the effects of President Donald Trump's executive order banning travelers from seven Muslim countries. Reports say that as visa suspensions and immigration bans have been carried out, dozens of kids, some of whom are refugees with serious conditions, can no longer receive aid.
ABC News reports on the case of 20 children in Jordan who are waiting to be allowed into America so they can get medical care for conditions like cancer or physical injuries as casualties of the war. These kids are mostly Syrian and Iraqi refugees, two of the countries in the president's list along with Iran, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.
Human rights lawyers have been helping the children but the executive order, issued on Jan. 27 with a 90-day temporary enforcement, is unclear about medical exemptions. ABC News further reports that Commissioner Kevin McAleenan of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection might honor waivers in these cases. New York Times published the full text of the executive order.
UNICEF, meanwhile, has issued an appeal to President Trump. The organization called for a review of the executive order in favor of the 28 million children in countries with conflict who will need a safe haven in the United States, regardless if they require medical aid. "We trust that this support will continue and that the recent measures will prove to be temporary," UNICEF stated via its official site.
Immigration bans, however, are nothing new but the current executive order is casting a cloud of uncertainty as no one knows what the president could do next. NPR cited such a ban should exempt children under the age of 10. The news outlet further stated the Trump government could look into a precedent that took place in the '60s where Cuban children below 10-years-old were allowed to enter the U.S. without a visa.
