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Iranian baby with heart defect impacted by Trump ‘thriving’

September 30, 2017

PORTLAND, Ore. – An Oregon lawmaker says an Iranian baby once barred from entering the U.S. to receive heart surgery because of President Donald Trump's travel ban continues to do well since undergoing an operation in Portland in February.

U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici shared photos on social media of Fatemeh Reshad taken at her Beaverton office and wrote that the girl, now about a year old, is "thriving" since her surgery at Oregon Health Sciences University's Doernbecher Children's Hospital to correct a heart defect.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports spokeswoman Ali Mayeda says the girl and her family visited with Bonamici for about 20 minutes.

Bonamici was one of a group of lawmakers who wrote to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to get the government to grant the baby and her family an exception.

The child's story gained national publicity.