BOSTON – As travelers walked through the doors into Boston’s Logan International Airport Saturday afternoon, cheers erupted as loved ones and friends rushed to give hugs to the newly arrived.
Many had been trying to get into the U.S. since President Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order suspending refugee resettlement and, also, travel to the United States for nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries — Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Yemen, Sudan and Somalia.
The order ignited outrage in the United States and around the world. It also stranded University of Massachusetts Amherst student Mohsen Hosseini, who had delayed his return to campus from winter break for an important event: Getting married.
Hosseini said his first week home was very good. But then, the week following his wedding, Trump issued his executive order. When he try to get on a plane back to Boston on Jan. 28, he said the airline wouldn’t issue his boarding pass.
Back in Amherst, roughly 6,000 miles away, UMass officials worked feverishly to ensure Hosseini’s return. Officials from the UMass administration even offered to pay Hosseini’s rent while he remained stuck in Iran.
Then, in rapid succession, two key developments occurred: The German airline Lufthansa announced it would transport travelers who held valid visas before Trump’s travel ban took effect. And then a Federal District Court in Seattle on Friday blocked Mr. Trump’s order nationwide, opening a window for Hosseini and others to return to the United States.
On Saturday, with the flight scheduled to arrive around 12:30 p.m., friends and officials began to gather to await his arrival. Amongst the crowd of supporters and strangers, Hosseini’s friends and fellow students positioned themselves directly in front of the door.
As he strode out of customs, past the security barrier and into the waiting area, a group of friends and university officials greeted him with smiles, hugs and high-fives.
“I’m very happy, actually very tired,” Hosseini said.
One of those waiting to greet him was Ken Reade, the director of international student and scholars services at UMass who has been working nearly nonstop to deal with the travel ban and speed Hosseini’s return.
Reade, visibly emotional, fought back tears.
“Every email, every lost hour of sleep,” Reade said, “is totally worth it.”
Hosseini, who is entering his second semester of a doctoral program in electrical engineering, said he had begun to lose hope of returning to Amherst. But he said that going through customs Saturday afternoon wasn't any different from the last time he entered the country.
Hosseini is one of three people from the university directly impacted by Trump’s travel ban. An Iranian undergraduate student and a visiting scholar from Syria are also being prevented from returning to the U.S.
Before Hosseini’s arrival, Reade was asked why the university would put forth so much effort for one student. He said the answer was simple.
“He is part of our community and it doesn’t matter where he is from. I think given the circumstances and the background as to why he was impeded to come here, frankly, just motivates us all the more to stand and to show solidarity and support,” Reade said.
“For not only him but for all of our Iranian international population which is very sizeable and our entire international population no matter where you are from,” Reade continued. “We have 117 countries represented and they are all community members and we welcome them and we want to always underscore how important they are to UMass. It's just a sincere and utter belief that they are a part of our community."\
UMass personnel, including Reade, were on hand for Saturday’s return. Students from the Iranian Student Association and legal representation also attended.
Kristina Gasson, an immigration attorney out of Boston, helped connect UMass with the flight for Hosseini. She explained that the volunteer attorneys had established a survey of people trying to get on flights and once information about Lufthansa came up, they were able to get information out to would-be travelers.
The German airline posted on its website Friday that it would board visa holders from the seven listed countries and fly them to Boston. Since then, the notice has been updated to reflect the federal court order blocking the ban and that visitors from the seven countries with valid visas are allowed to travel to the U.S.
"What we are trying to people is that people affected by this ban did things the right way. They came through the visa vetting process, they've applied for their visas, they paid for their fees, they've taken all the right steps,” Gasson said. “A lot of people who are immigration hardliners or anti-immigration complain about immigrants who overstay visas or don't do things the legal way. These people have all done things the legal way and we are punishing them for it and that is something that is very personal to me."
Lawyers, supporters welcome travelersJust before noon, the area around the U.S. Customs and Border Protection exit into terminal E at Boston’s Logan International Airport was nearly empty.
A table with signs in multiple languages advertises legal help for those entering the country. Attorney Rei Matsushita made the two-hour drive from Northampton Saturday morning to join the pool of volunteer attorneys.
“I just wanted to help,” Matsushita said. “I don’t practice immigration law, but I’m a foreigner too.”
Matsushita, originally from Japan, has been in the U.S. for 20 years and said she is a green card holder. In the time she had been at the airport, she said she’s been talking to families waiting for loved ones to arrive.
“They are so anxious,” she said.
In addition to collecting information for potential cases, Matsushita said she was also there to be welcoming.
As international flights began to arrive, the crowd of people waiting outside the doors grew. Some came with signs already prepared while others quickly composed a message using concrete pillars as vertical tables. Volunteers from SURJ, Showing Up for Racial Justice, were on hand to welcome those returning to the states.
For more than two hours, Katty Alhayek waited for her brother-in-law Nael Zaino to walk through the doors outside of customs.
Zaino, 32, a Syrian refugee, had tried to get on a plane from Turkey multiple times since the executive order. Instead though, he was repeatedly turned away and unable to board. Instead of being one step closer to his brother, Basileus Zeno, a Syrian with pending asylum status who is pursuing a doctorate in political science at UMass Amherst, Zeno watched Zaino cry before Turkish news cameras.
After embracing Alhayek and shedding a few tears, Zaino was having a hard time composing his thoughts.
"This is what I don't know ... how I feel now," Zaino said. "Surprised. I still can't believe it."
His wife and 18-month-old son were already in the U.S. and he last saw them in October. He'd been waiting for two years to come to the states. A trained geologist, Zaino worked in Iraq before moving to Turkey.
With help from congressional offices in both Massachusetts and California, where his wife lives, Zaino was able to board a flight in Turkey, surprising even the airline personnel, he said.
“Literally up until the last minute, customs and border control had cancelled his visa, told the airline to not let him on a flight,” said Anais Surkin, a friend of Alhayek and labor union organizer.
“At the airport last night, they weren't letting him on the flight,” she said. “The last minute before the door closed before they let him on.”
With his arrival in the states, Zaino will also be reunited with his brother, Basileus Zeno, who he has not seen in five years. Zeno is a Syrian with pending asylum status pursuing a doctorate in political science at UMass Amherst. Alhayek, Zeno’s wife, is also a doctoral candidate at the university.
The first thing Zaino will do, he said, will be to hug his son and give him a gift — a brightly colored toy bus.
“I will give him this bus,” he said showing off the gift and smiling.
Zaino said after he was given his documents back from the Customs and Borders agents, they told him to enjoy his new life.
“That is what I will do,” he declared.
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.