The nearly 2,000 cases of stranded Americans in Yemen are being tracked by the Yemeni American Association of California, Yemeni American Merchants Association, and the offices of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
“What is important for the [U.S. government] to do is to prioritize Yemeni Americans, just as much as other Americans all across the globe in terms of repatriation, keeping in mind that the humanitarian crisis in Yemen is particularly troublesome,” said Ammad Wajahat Rafiqi, coordinator for civil rights and legal services for CAIR’s San Francisco office.
Due to President Donald Trump’s travel ban targeting Muslim-majority countries — including all immigrants, refugees, and visa holders from Yemen — Yemeni Americans who wanted to see their families had to go to Yemen. Many of the people currently stranded in Yemen were visiting elderly or sick relatives when the borders closed.
