Story highlights A week after being turned away at the airport, Syrian family was able to enter US legally

They have been trying to come to the United States for fifteen years

(CNN) A little over one week after being denied entry to the United States, a family of Syrian Orthodox Christians were reunited with their American relatives Monday morning at John F. Kennedy airport in New York City.

The Asalis, who belong to one of the most persecuted groups in war-torn Syria, have been trying to join their stateside relatives for almost 15 years.

Sarmad Assali, a US citizen who lives in Allentown, Pennsylvania, had been waiting to welcome her two brothers-in-law, their wives and children. The six Syrians were due to arrive in Philadelphia on Jan. 28, one day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring immigrants from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the country.

Before their arrival, Assali, who spells her surname differently than the Syrian members of the family, had purchased and furnished a house for her relatives "to help them start a new life."

But when the Asalis finally landed in Philadelphia after flying in by way of Beirut and Qatar, they were told they had to get on the next flight back to Doha, or be detained and potentially lose their visas.

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