On Tuesday night, after a three-year wait in a refugee camp, prolonged by ten days by President Donald Trump’s executive order that temporarily banned entry to the United States to refugees and nationals of seven mostly Islamic countries, three Syrian refugees, Baraa, Abdulmajeed, and their 16-month-old daughter finally arrived in Chicago. Their flight landed on schedule, at 5:50 PM, and they cleared customs just before 7 PM. Baraa’s parents and siblings were waiting for them; the hugging started even before they’d cleared the barrier that blocked the door to customs.
Representatives of RefugeeOne, a nonprofit that serves refugees in the Chicago area, and a delegation of women who call themselves the Lincoln Square Moms who were sponsoring the family, were also there to greet them with flowers and signs. The Lincoln Square Moms had arranged an apartment for the family, which they’d stocked with food and basic supplies.
