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Health

The Immigration Ban Also Means These Sick People Can’t Get Treatment

Patients anticipating urgent medical care have been barred from the US.

President Trump's recent immigration ban against seven Muslim-majority countries has created a complex and challenging environment for some of the international community's most vulnerable people. Nationwide protests, horror stories of families separated from one another at American airports, and five-year-old children being detained for hours by authorities have become the face of this crisis. But the Muslim ban has also had a less-visible impact on an equally vulnerable group of people: Citizens of the affected nations that are currently seeking urgent medical care in the United States are now worried about their ability to access life-saving treatment. Al Ameen is a 33-year-old Iraqi refugee who suffers from the genetic disorder hemophilia A, which prevents blood from clotting properly. He has been living in Jordan and awaiting care in the US for two years, according to a Reuters report. Doctors have told Ameen that only a few medical centers in the world are equipped to handle his condition. With the instituted ban, he is panicked that he will no longer be able to get the treatment he needs. "I'm going to die here by myself," he said. Read more on Tonic

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