Congressional leaders working to get Los Banos man and his Yemeni-born daughter back to Merced County | The Modesto Bee

Merced County’s congressional leaders are working with federal agencies to help a Los Banos man and his 12-year-old daughter return home.

Ahmed Ali, the 39-year-old Yemeni-American manager of the Buy N Save Market in Los Banos, remains stuck in a hotel in east Africa with his young daughter, Eman Ali, following President Donald Trump’s controversial order banning travel and immigration from several Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, where Ali’s daughter was born.

Eman’s immigration lawyer, Katy Lewis, who released her client’s name Monday, said she is working with the offices of U.S. Rep. Jim Costa and U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris to set up and obtain a travel letter allowing Ali’s daughter U.S. entry.

Costa’s office has been in contact by phone and email with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State to obtain the letter for Eman, according to an official.

Costa on Monday pledged to help the father and daughter return home to Merced County “as soon as possible and safely” and also said he would back legislation seeking to overturn Trump’s executive order on immigration that is blocking their travel.

Feinstein’s and Harris’ offices didn’t respond to requests for comment on Eman’s case Monday.

After years of legal wrangling, Eman obtained an immigrant visa the day before Trump’s order was signed, Lewis said. The order prohibits people traveling to the United States from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, Costa noted in a statement issued Monday morning.

The order was stayed in part by a federal judge Sunday after the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit. But the judge’s order doesn’t apply to Eman because she isn’t on U.S. soil, Lewis said.

ACLU representative Irene Rojas-Carroll said the organization is keeping tabs on Eman’s situation. But she wouldn’t confirm if the ACLU was investigating or considering litigation.

“Due to President Trump’s hasty decision-making, a 12-year-old girl with parents who are U.S. citizens and Los Banos residents is banned from entering the United States,” Costa said. “My office is doing everything within our jurisdiction to help Mr. Ali and his daughter to get home as soon as possible and safely.”

Costa also said “it’s obvious that keeping a 12-year-old out of the country is not strengthening the safety of our nation.”

The White House Press Office didn’t respond to phone calls and email requesting comment on Eman’s situation, or Costa’s remarks.

However, Trump issued a statement Sunday: “America is a proud nation of immigrants and we will continue to show compassion to those fleeing oppression, but we will do so while protecting our own citizens and border.”

He continued, “we will again be issuing visas to all countries once we are sure we have reviewed and implemented the most secure policies over the next 90 days.”

Ali became a U.S. citizen in 2010 and has been struggling for more than a decade to take his family out of Yemen, a country embroiled in a civil war.

Ali’s wife was a U.S. citizen but lived in Yemen most of her life. Their eldest daughter, who is 14, was naturalized, and a 2-year-old child was born in the United States.

But it has been more challenging to bring Eman to the United States because she was born in Yemen. Ali said his wife wanted Eman to be born with her family in Yemen, which was much safer then.

“Since the 12-year-old girl went through all the rigorous channels to obtain an immigrant visa, and her parents are U.S. citizens, she would have been admitted as a lawful permanent resident and immediately would have been eligible to file for U.S. citizenship,” Costa said in the news release.

Costa blasted the order, calling it a “flawed policy” that “was not vetted thoroughly by his administration” and has the “potential to be ruled unconstitutional.”

“Let us never forget that America’s diversity is what makes us strong. Banning individuals, mostly women and children, from entering the United States is not the American way,” Costa said. “I will be supporting legislation that will rescind President Trump’s executive order because the executive order is flawed and is not making the American people safer.”

The travel ban sparked outrage in many cities across the United States over the weekend, triggering large protests at airports, including Fresno, Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles.