
 
 PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Donald Trump’s ban on immigration from 7 Muslim majority counties has prevented even refugees and visitors with approved visas from entering the United States. 
 
 Four-month-old Fatemeh Reshad was all set to travel to the U.S. from Iran with her mother to have an operation that will save her life. 
 
 That was until Trump’s executive order banned immigrants like them from entering the country. 
 
 Fatemeh’s uncle Sam Taghizadeh, a U.S. citizen, says everything changed for his sister and her baby in one night. 
 
 “It was very hard because she got the hope to come to [the] U.S., bring the baby here,” he said. 
 
 He said his family did everything by the book, including obtaining a temporary visa through the U.S. embassy in Dubai (there is no embassy in Iran). 
 
 “We got the hotel, the airplane tickets, everything was ready,” Taghizadeh said. 
 
 Because Fatemeh was born in Iran, the visa and all endorsed documents disappeared overnight on January 27. 
 
 “The next day, I check the site, everything is gone,” Taghizadeh said. “They sent the email saying everything is cancelled and they took the appointment out and we are stuck.” 
 
 Taghizadeh said even though he us a citizen, Trump’s actions against immigrants make him feel like he’s not. 
 
 “Because we’re born in Iran, it’s like he ignores me as a citizen,” Taghizadeh said. “My niece is 4-months-old coming to here for surgery, you’re scared of her?” Taghizadeh said. “What’s she going to do? Is she dangerous?” 
 
 The hospitals in Iran don’t have the proper equipment to operate on Fatemeh. According to Oregon lawmakers who confirmed the situation, Fatemeh’s condition has been reviewed by doctors at hospitals across the U.S. who agree that if she doesn’t get surgery soon, she’ll die. 
 
 “The problem now here is the time,” Taghizadeh said. “If they going to make it for long time, maybe one month, we’re going to lose that baby.” 
 
 Taghizadeh has all the medical documents regarding the baby’s condition and sent them to doctors in New York and OHSU. He said they would have the surgery at any hospital they could in the U.S. Pediatric cardiologists at OHSU have offered to treat her. 
 
 The hospital tweeted Friday that “OHSU stands ready and willing to care for this child if she is able to be admitted to the U.S.” 
 
 Oregon Governor Kate Brown is fighting the White House and hopes in doing so, will save the young girl’s life. 
 
 “I find it deplorable that an infant who was supposed to come to Oregon to receive much needed life-saving care was not able to access that care,�? Brown said. 
 
 “Fatemeh’s life is in peril and, if she does not soon have corrective surgeries, she will die,�? they wrote. 
 
 New York Governor Andrew has been granted a waiver to allow Fatemeh and her family entry to the country. Cuomo worked with the International Refugee Assistance Project to make it happen. 
 
 The pediatric cardiologists at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York have offered to treat the girl for free. 
 
 Before Cuomo’s request was granted, Oregon lawmakers also sent a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Friday asking for a waiver to allow Fatemeh’s family to come to the U.S. 
 
 The letter went on to say: “Granting her family’s request to travel to the U.S. is not only the moral and humanitarian decision, but would signal to Iran and the rest of the world that, even in the face of highly strained diplomatic relations, the United States offers help to those suffering tragic circumstances.�? 
 
 The letter was signed by Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and Congress representatives Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, Peter DeFazio and Kurt Shrader. 
 
 Now that the path has been cleared for Fatemeh to get to the United States, her family is deciding whether to go to New York or Portland for the surgery. 
 
 “We hope they can make it to OHSU because we are here, we can help, I can help my sister,” Taghizadeh said. ||||| "Everything was OK. They asked for a lot of paperwork. She got the appointment, February 5, in the morning," Fatemah's uncle, Sam Taghizadeh, told KPTV. "All the papers, everything was ready, and just in the last minute they canceled everything." ||||| NEW YORK (AP) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday that an Iranian infant banned from entering the United States for life-saving heart surgery under President Donald Trump's executive order will now be allowed to travel for the emergency procedure. 
 
 The family had an appointment in Dubai to get a tourist visa, but it was abruptly canceled earlier this week after Trump announced his executive order on immigration banning travel to the U.S. by people from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Iran. Four-month-old Fatemeh Reshad was forced to return home. 
 
 Iranian doctors told the child's parents weeks ago that she needed at least one urgent surgery — and maybe several — to correct serious heart defects, or she will die, according to her uncle, Samad Taghizadeh, a U.S. citizen who lives in Portland. 
 
 Cuomo said Manhattan's Mount Sinai Medical Center had offered to perform the critical surgery, but the family finally chose to do it in Portland, Oregon, both because of the hospital's pediatric cardiology expertise and proximity to the baby's uncle and grandparents. 
 
 "This evening we were pleased to learn that the federal government has now granted Fatemeh Reshad and her family boarding documents to come to the United States," the governor said in a statement. "We will continue to work with the International Refugee Assistance Project and their partners to ensure this baby receives the treatment she needs, and fight for those being unfairly shut out of America's gates by this policy." 
 
 Cuomo said he worked with the organization to help secure a government visa waiver of Trump's order. 
 
 "Bizarrely, the federal ban would prevent this child from receiving medical care and literally endanger her life," Cuomo said. "It is repugnant to all we believe as Americans and as members of the human family." 
 
 Doctors in Iran sent the results of an echocardiogram and other records that show Fatemeh has structural abnormalities and two holes in her heart, said Jennifer Morrissey, a Portland attorney helping with the case. She said the infant is expected in Portland early next week. 
 
 The issue is time, Taghizadeh told the AP. "She's in an emergency situation and if it takes a long time, they're going to lose her." 
 
 ___ 
 
 AP writer Gillian Flaccus in Portland contributed to this report.
– A 4-month-old girl barred from entry to the US and the lifesaving surgery she required by President Trump's travel ban received an exemption Friday, the New York Daily News reports. Fatemeh Reshad was born with structural abnormalities in her heart. According to KOIN, US doctors reviewing her medical files agreed she would die soon without surgery, but hospitals at home in Iran didn't have the necessary equipment to perform it. Fatemeh's family received a temporary visa to travel to Oregon for surgery, but it was canceled by Trump's executive order Jan. 27. “My niece is 4-months-old coming here for surgery," says Fatemeh's uncle, a US citizen living in Portland. "You're scared of her?" The International Refugee Assistance Project and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo took up Fatemeh's cause. Cuomo called what was being done to her family "repugnant to all we believe as Americans and as members of the human family," the AP reports. It worked. Fatemeh and her family were granted a waiver to enter the country Friday just as a judge was putting a temporary halt on enforcement of the travel ban. Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York even offered to perform Fatemeh's procedure for free, though her family will be having it done as planned in Oregon, where they have family. Fatemeh should be arriving in Portland early next week.