A Syrian doctor was reunited with his family at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Monday night days after a federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's travel ban.
"No problem today," said Dr. Hayan Kayal, a neurosurgeon who fled the Syrian violence and now lives in Iraq. "I told them I'm visiting my family."
His wife and American-born daughter moved to the U.S. five years ago as the Syrian war inched closer to their hometown.
Kayal relocated to the relative safety of Erbil, Iraq, and usually visits his family in Keller every few months.
Jasmine Kayal, 17, a senior at Keller High School, said the travel ban made her wonder whether her father would be able to travel to the U.S.
"I was nervous we wouldn't be able to see him and I didn't know what we would do," she said.
Her father said he became depressed and simply waited.
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Then, on Friday, a federal judge in Seattle temporarily blocked the ban, allowing Kayal at least a window to come.
An appeals court is set to hear oral arguments on the Justice Department's appeal on Tuesday.
"I am happy to visit my family here now," Hayan Kayal said.
He plans to go back to Iraq in three weeks.
His daughter worries that he may not be allowed to visit again.
"I just keep thinking in the future, what if he can't come here anymore? What are we supposed to do?" she said.
Trump says the ban is to keep the country safe from terrorists.
Jasmine Kayal doesn't agree with that argument.
"You can't solve a problem like that by just banning everyone. That's not how you solve it," she said. "There's a lot of people who have nothing to do with that. They just want to see their families."
