Alwaght- The recent anti-Muslim move by the US President that bares those born in seven Muslim-majority countries to enter the country prevents a British parliament member from entering the US.
The Independent says a parliament member who was born in Iraq back in 1970s is now banned from traveling to the US based on an executive order signed by Donald Trump that banes the entry of those born or citizens of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entry US borders, even with valid visas or Green Cards.
Nadhim Zahawi, who fled Iraq as a Kurdish refugee with his parents in the 1970s, confirmed he had been told by a US immigration lawyer that he and his wife would be barred from entering the US under the new order
The order also bans the acceptance of refugees from Syria indefinitely – though the White House has indicated it will consider applications from Syrian Christians.
This means the Stratford-upon-Avon MP, who has lived in the UK since he was nine and is a British citizen, will not be able to go to the US while the order is in place, despite not holding Iraqi citizenship.
The order also applies to Mr Zahawi’s wife who was born in Iraq. In a series of tweets he said it was a “sad day for the USA” and he felt like a “second class citizen”.
It comes as Prime Minister Theresa May is under increasing pressure to denounce the executive order after she visited Washington the day it was signed.
When asked about the issue at a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, she repeatedly refused to criticize the policy, saying: “The United States is responsible for the United States’ policy on refugees, the United Kingdom is responsible for the United Kingdom’s policy on refugees.”
Several leading Labour figures, including current leader Jeremy Corbyn and former leader Ed Miliband, have condemned the order and Ms May’s own party are showing disquiet over the order.