2 Christian Syrian families detained at PHL, returned to Qatar

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/real-time/2-Syrian-families-detained-at-PHL-returned-to-Qatar.html

Two Syrian families -- who are Christian -- were detained at Philadelphia International Airport on Saturday morning and sent back to Doha, Qatar, by federal authorities because of President Trump's new executive immigration order, a relative in Allentown said Saturday.

They were traveling with immigrant visas and were approved for green cards, said Sarah Assali, 25, of Allentown.

Assali said her six relatives — two of her uncles and their wives, as well as a 17-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter of one of the couples — had arrived in Philadelphia on Saturday morning from an 18-hour flight from Doha. They are from Damascus.

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Her relatives weren't fleeing Syria as refugees, she said.

Her own immediate family members are U.S. citizens. "My family is Christian Orthodox," she said. "I was born here. My mom came here when she was in eighth grade. My dad came in 1990."

"We signed the petition to bring them over [here] in 2003," she said. "The vetting process went on. They were approved [immigrant visas] in 2015. They had to go first to Amman, Jordan, to get interviews and medical appointments to finalize the documentation. A few months ago, everything was approved and set. They chose to spend the holidays in Syria. They held off the flight for the holidays."

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