Miami — Ten-year-old Sofia of Havana recently recorded a plea for President Trump, asking him to reconsider the partial travel ban he issued for Cuba and several other countries earlier this month.
“President Trump, I ask you to please reconsider family reunification for residents,” Sofia says in her video posted to social media.
Sofia’s mother, Lia Llanes, fled Cuba three years ago and is now a legal permanent resident of the U.S. living in Miami.
Llanes told CBS News she came to the U.S. with the hope of one day bringing her daughter to join her. Sofia is currently living with her grandmother in Havana.
“I came with the hopes of bringing her because all the mothers who come here, and the fathers, hope to one day become residents and have the privilege of bringing our children,” Llanes said.
That privilege came in the form of a family reunification visa, which Llanes said Sofia was approved for. Sofia was awaiting the final step in the visa process: an interview at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba.
But the interview never happened. On June 5, Mr. Trump signed a proclamation barring travelers and immigrants from 12 countries from entering the U.S., citing U.S. national security interests. It also partially restricted entry for nationals from another seven countries, including Cuba, with only certain exemptions. Under the ban, only U.S. citizens can apply to sponsor relatives from Cuba, not green card holders like Llanes.
“It was a big blow because she was already approved, and she was preparing, learning English,” Llanes said, adding that Sofia was left so devastated by the ban that she went two days without wanting to speak with anyone.
Sofia spoke briefly this week with CBS News by phone, saying she wants to be with her mother.
Mr. Trump has argued the ban is necessary to keep the nation safe. The State Department has said another 36 countries could be added to the list due to security concerns.
“It’s hard to manage the expectations of people that you’re representing when you yourself are trying to keep up with all of the changes that are happening,” Saman Movaghassi Gonzales, an immigration attorney in Florida, told CBS News.
Gonzales said the changes are upending the plans of many families.
“The travel ban is going to be very challenging for people who are in the middle of a process, because they’ve already invested themselves, money and time, into a process, and now this travel ban is going to completely divert it,” Gonzales said.
Llanes hopes to one day become a U.S. citizen, a process she said could take two years. But that could be two more years away from Sofia if U.S. policies don’t change.
One dead, several injured after lightning strikes across Southeast
Smoke, flames shot out of American Airlines engine before emergency landing in Las Vegas
Kilmar Abrego Garcia to stay in jail as attorneys debate potential deportation
