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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah late Thursday welcomed a brother and sister from the South Sudan — a pair advocates say will likely be the last refugees to resettle in the Beehive State before a key piece of a national travel ban takes effect.
Julia Mading, 23, and her brother, Emmanuel, 11, touched down in Salt Lake City Thursday about 9:15 p.m. The siblings greeted refugee advocates, reporters and their uncle, Peter Kuot, who said he has not seen them in over a decade.
"Hi, guys," Julia Mading said. "I'm quite happy to see everyone."
Mading said she was excited to be in the United States because she no longer risks being hurt or killed in the Kenyan refugee camp they have been in for the past four years. She and her brother wore peacoats and toted white plastic International Organization for Migration bags.
Thursday had been scheduled to be the last day refugees can enter America before the Trump administration’s overhauled travel ban took effect, but federal officials said the deadline has been extended to around July 12, when a cap of 50,000 refugee admissions for the current fiscal year is expected to be reached.
As of Thursday morning, admissions were at 49,501, The Associated Press reported.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld part of President Donald Trump's travel ban for citizens of six mainly Muslim countries, as well as a halt on refugee admissions. Resettlement agencies initially were told to schedule arrivals only through July 6. It does not apply to people with valid visas or U.S. green cards.
The ban will come under review by the Supreme Court in October, but some pieces are allowed to take effect in the meantime, the court said last week.
For 90 days, the government can bar those who lack a "bona fide" relationship with immediate relatives or a business in the U.S. It applies to those who apply for visas from Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Iran and Libya.
Valid relationships are: a parent, spouse, fiancé, child, adult son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and sibling, according to the U.S. State Department.
Reporters, students, employees or lecturers who have valid, formal invitations or job contracts in the U.S. also are allowed.
If refugees from anywhere aren't already approved for travel and can't prove one of these relationships, they'll be barred for 120 days.
Aden Batar, who directs refugee resettlement for Catholic Community Services of Utah and worked with the U.S. State Department to help the Madings, said the siblings were lucky.
His organization has about 180 hopeful refugees in its pipeline, he said. About half have family members in the U.S. and won't be affected, but the other half will have to wait out the 120 days, he said.
On Wednesday, the brother and sister boarded a plane from Nairobi at 10 p.m., then caught connecting flights in Dubai and Los Angeles before reaching Salt Lake City, Julia Mading said.
But their journey started about four years ago, Batar added. The Madings were in a refugee camp in Kenya since 2013, and secured their one-way tickets to Utah last month.
"It's really bad, because there are a lot of people that are suffering," Mading said. "They need help."
One of her friends was supposed to come to the U.S. as well, but could not get approval from the U.S. government in time, Mading said.
"She's losing hope. A lot of people are losing hope."
In Utah, Muslim and refugee advocates have said Trump's revised travel ban was cruel and counterproductive. They began hosting training sessions in Salt Lake City for refugees and immigrants already living in the Beehive State, urging that they should not be affected.
Reaction to the ban from members of Utah's congressional delegation has been mixed.
U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. Chris Stewart said it was a good thing for Trump to make improvements to his prior, more stringent February ban. Sen. Mike Lee said security is a priority but said he is proud of Utah's history of welcoming refugees.
And 19 Mormon Studies and history scholars filed a friend-of-the-court brief against the ban, saying LDS Americans continue to face consequences created by U.S. governments discrimination against them in the 1800s.
On Thursday, the Madings were heading to their uncle's house for the night, and on Friday were scheduled to meet with representatives from Social Security and Department of Workforce Services before going grocery shopping and moving into an apartment.
"I'm happy," Julia Mading said.
Contributing: Associated Press
