Ariana Maia Sawyer

The Tennessean

NASHVILLE — A Kurdish family stopped on their way to Nashville by President Trump's travel ban has been cleared for entry into the United States.

Fuad Sharef Suleman, his wife, Arazoo Ibrahim, and their three children were prevented from boarding a connecting flight at Cairo International Airport to Nashville despite having special immigrant visas from Suleman's work with the U.S. government.

“The Sharef family were innocent victims of President Donald Trump’s executive orders, which I am fighting to reverse," said Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn. "I hope they make it to Nashville without incident.”

The Sharef family had sold their home, quit their jobs and pulled their children out of school in preparation for their move to Nashville. But the president signed an executive order Friday banning legal travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Iraq.

Instead of checking in at the Cairo airport Saturday, the family of five were deported.

British leader Theresa May: Trump's travel ban 'divisive and wrong'

CEOs to Senate: Travel ban could hurt business

Tuesday night, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad received revised guidance from the State Department that it is “in the national interest to allow Iraqi special immigrant visa holders to now travel to the United States,” Cooper's office said in a statement.

Suleman said his family was notified Wednesday morning that they were cleared to travel.

"They are very excited," he said via an instant messaging service from Iraq. "Dreaming and planning resumed."

The travel clearance comes after widespread pressure from activists, protesters and lawmakers, as well as national media coverage.

Stephanie Teatro, co-executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said the organization launched a campaign specifically around the Sharefs, driving calls to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

Both have spoken out against the executive order, calling it confusing and poorly implemented.

“We couldn’t be happier for Fuad and his family, and we’re so excited to welcome them into our community," Teatro said.

But she said it was important to continue organizing for all the other families still effected by the ban "regardless of where they come from or who they worship."

The American Civil Liberties Union in Tennessee, the American Muslim Advisory Council and the National Immigration Law Center also supported the campaign. But others across the nation and in Tennessee have supported the executive order, saying it would make the nation safer and prevent potential terrorists from entering the United States.

Cooper said he has been in touch with the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and officials at Customs and Border Protection on behalf of the family since he learned of their predicament.

The embassy has suggested booking the tickets on the family's behalf, since those with special immigrant visas can still be stopped, Suleman said.

"The point is to make sure that we would not face any problems," he said.

He said the family expects to be on a plane to Nashville in the next few days.

Suleman used to work as a regional translator for RTI International, a research organization with a contract through the U.S. government. Because those who work with the American government in Iraq are in danger from groups like the Islamic State, Suleman and his family were given special immigrant visas to come to the United States.

Erbil, where the family is from, is in Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous region in Northern Iraq. Kurdistan is home to the Kurdish Peshmerga — one of the U.S. military's most reliable allies in the fight against the Islamic State.

Nashville has the largest population of ethnic Kurds in the United States, with estimates ranging from 12,000 to 17,000 residents. Many of the American Kurds came as refugees during the early 1990s after Saddam Hussein attacked them using chemical weapons.

Follow Ariana Sawyer on Twitter: @a_maia_sawyer