Is there anything Trump isn’t responsible for? According to the media, a child’s life is now in danger due to his executive order. http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/89106622/trumps-executive-order-barred-iranian-baby-in-need-of-heart-surgery. Baby Fatemeh is four months old and has been diagnosed with a heart condition and hospitals in Iran where she was born are not equipped to perform the operation so her parents planned to bring her to the USA to get the surgery done. They have family already in the US. The executive order blocking visas being issued for 7 countries over the next 90 days means Fatemeh cannot come to the US as she is an Iranian citizen.
No one can argue this isn’t a sad case. Any baby born with a life-threatening problem is heartbreaking. No one can blame the parents for wanting the best outcome for their child. However blaming Trump and his executive order is a low blow, this is not Trump’s fault. So who is to blame for this situation?
If I were the parents, rather than pointing the finger of blame to another country, I’d be angry at my own country for not providing this treatment. The type of issue Fatemeh has happens in approximately 2 in 10,000 births, and had she been born in the US she would have been diagnosed within the first week of birth, treated and discharged within a few weeks. Fatemah’s case is more complicated now because it was not diagnosed immediately after birth. Why was it not diagnosed?
I don’t know much about the Iranian healthcare system, so I turned to Google to help me work out why Iran failed to pick up this issue which doesn’t sound all that rare of a case. Surely they must have some backward healthcare system for this to happen, right? In 2016 Bloomberg News ranked Iran’s healthcare systems 30th, ahead of the USA https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-29/u-s-health-care-system-ranks-as-one-of-the-least-efficient. However, another piece of information I read on stats from the WHO had different rankings, http://thepatientfactor.com/canadian-health-care-information/world-health-organizations-ranking-of-the-worlds-health-systems/, despite this, Iran was still in the top half of healthcare rankings of the 190 coming in at 93, that’s almost 100 countries on this list that have worst healthcare rankings. So despite the huge difference in information available online, in both cases, Iran did relatively okay so it is strange that an operation that sounds pretty standard in the US is not possible in Iran. So ahead of Trump I believe that the Iranian government and the Iranian health service is responsible for this families situation by not being able to provide treatment, or at the very least having an agreement with another country who can provide the treatment with Iran paying. According to the World Bank Iran is classed as a upper-middle economy, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran, so why are they not able to provide this to their citizens?
My next question is: why America? America is so far away from Iran. I understand they have an uncle and Fatemeh’s grandparents there, however, if America is not an option because of the immigration freeze, what is stopping them going somewhere else? This is not addressed in the article. This is not an extremely rare operation that is only offered in the US. Looking at the rankings of healthcare systems I found online, http://thepatientfactor.com/canadian-health-care-information/world-health-organizations-ranking-of-the-worlds-health-systems/, United Arab Emirates is rated 27th, this is where they had to go to get their visa to get into the US, so why when time is obviously of the essence, and they are traveling to the UAE to go to get a visa to travel to the US, why are they not going to the UAE for the operation? Sure it is possible that the UAE doesn’t offer this type of surgery, but the article doesn’t answer this question, why not? This would solve the families problem if they did, right? So why isn’t this raised as a solution? Why is the only solution they can come up with is for Trump to lift the ban? (which is now suspended due to legal wranglings in court anyway)
Oman and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East are also ahead of the US on the healthcare stats, so why do they think the US is the best place to go for treatment? Also ahead of the US is Germany and Canada, two countries who have been vocally against Trump’s immigration freeze, so given their hatred for the policy, why haven’t they stepped up and offered healthcare services to this family? Action speaks larger than words. America is 37th of this list. Is it really the best place for this family to go? Is it the only place for this family to go? Doubt it. To me it looks more like they are using this child’s illness to get into America and then not leave to reunify their family. I have no evidence of this but I can’t help feel suspicious that none of the 37 countries ahead of the US can’t help with this girl’s operation. Are the leaders of the 37 countries ahead of America in healthcare ranks who are also not helping her not more to blame than Trump? And are there none that are ranked between the US and Iran that could be an option? I’m still at a loss to why Trump is being held responsible for this girl’s situation.
Next, the issue is money. The only reason this is even an issue is because the girl’s family has money. For many people, what is wrong with this baby would be a death sentence, simply because they cannot afford to travel to another country, especially America – known for its high healthcare costs. Why is no one standing up for the no doubt thousands who die because the required healthcare is not available in their country and they have no money to pay? Even some American families suffer because they have no money for treatment, where is their voice? This family get the headlines because Trump blocked their plans, but traveling to another country for an operation is a dream for some, they will never be able to afford it, this family has options because they have money. So many other families don’t have money, they have no options, no one mentions their plight, they are the ones that need help from people like Suzanne Bonemici because they don’t have a voice. Money talks, if this family want their daughter to have the operation they will find a way because I’m sure there are other countries who would love to take their money and save the child’s life. Make new plans! Do what is best for the child.
Suzanne Bonemici proudly announces that Fatemeh is clearly not a terrorist because she is a 4 month old baby. I agree, she isn’t a terrorist. However, unlike Suzanne Bonemici who must think that this 4 month old sick baby is going to get on a plane and fly to the States on her own, I’m able to think things through a little further and realise that Fatemeh will need at least one person to fly with her. More likely her whole family, possibly a nurse or even a team of assistants, will be flying over. Do terrorists have kids Ms Bonemici? Yes, I believe they do. To check my theory that terrorists might have kids I Google searched possibly the world’s most well known terrorist Osama Bin Laden. Turns out Bin Laden had several wives and is believed he had between 20 and 24 children. So just because this child is innocent does not mean she is not bringing danger to the US with her. Even if her immediate family is fine, her entry opens the door to extended relatives as most countries have family reunification clauses in their immigration policy and once you have one family member in a country then it makes it easier for others to come in. The more family one has in a country the stronger the case they have for immigration. Ms Bonemici needs to be careful when claiming kids are innocent because in the UK refugees are being allowed in claiming to be unaccompanied children and then it turns out they are actually adults, and children are being used as suicide bombers by many terrorist groups, so it is naive to have the blanket opinion that children are safe. Sadly the world of today is a dangerous place and all must be investigated because there are a lot of dangerous people out there who do sink low enough to use children as a trick to test systems and lower people’s security guards. Many so called refugees that infiltrated Europe didn’t have papers, so how do you tell a genuine refugee from a terrorist if they don’t have any papers?
Personally if I was in their situation I would be guttered that my plans to reunite with family and get my child treated were destroyed, but instead of complaining about it I would be taking action to see if there was a way around the situation (and I believe there were exclusions to the executive order and an exemption could be applied for) or looking for a new option. I would not be using my child as a political football, a negotiation tool, a political ploy, my priority would be my child, so I’d be finding a different place to get the operation done. The fact that they are saying they will wait the 90 days to me says that they are prepared to put their child’s life on the line to give them the opportunity for a new life in America, or simply the situation isn’t as serious as they claim. Is that the type of person America wants in their country? The type of person who puts their personal desires above their child’s needs. A person who uses a 4-month-old baby as a blackmail tool?
America has put this in place to protect the citizens of their country, it is unfortunate timing for this family but there is no reason that this child should die because of America’s policy. If this child dies it is not Trump’s fault but the fault of her family for putting their wants above their child’s life. I very much doubt America is the only country in the world who offers this operation. The media giving this family attention instead of being straight up and asking the questions that I have answered above is irresponsible because they are putting this child’s life in danger because they are reinforcing the parent’s belief that they have a right to go to America.
They hadn’t even got their visa yet, it could have been turned down, there are no guarantees. My husband has had to wait months to get visas for some of his work assignments. Knowing how hard it is and the amount of time it takes to get visas, I can’t understand why they are looking to America who requires a visa. Is there no countries they could have traveled to where a visa is not required, thus saving time? Possibly not, but there is no information about this, so we don’t know.
To me, this simply screams an immigration scam to jump the queue and enter America. Ask the questions that the media fails to provide. Don’t fall for their tricks. I hope Fatemeh gets her operation, however, I don’t believe America is the only hope for this family and if America is saying no then look to the list of countries who are either near Iran, have good relationships with Iran or who have openly said they do not agree with Trump’s policy. Given those countries anti-Trump policy support, surely these countries would jump at the chance to save this child? Particularly given it is already established they have the money to pay their way so there is no loss to their country. There is no need for Fatemeh to suffer because of Trump’s policy, the choice is her parents.
Revisionist Media 