When Trump’s Muslim travel ban stranded this doctor, Canada welcomed him. But four years later, he and his family are stuck in ‘limbo’
It was a story hailed by many as a moment showing Canada's compassion in contrast to its biggest neighbour.
Four years ago, Canada opened its door to Dr. Khaled Almilaji, who had been barred from the United States under then-president Donald Trump's Muslim travel ban - a measure widely panned as cruel and senseless.
But the epilogue to the story has flown largely under the radar. In fact, it's arguably still awaiting a final chapter.
The Syrian otolaryngologist (a head and neck surgeon) was a postgraduate student in America. In January 2017, he found himself stranded in Turkey, though, following an aid mission at the border of his homeland. He was prevented from re-entering the U.S., where his pregnant wife was awaiting his return, as a result of the Trump administration's measure.
It was the same White House policy that prompted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to respond with a tweet that created no small amount of buzz in the moment and in the months afterwards: To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength" along with the hashtag #WelcomeToCanada."
Almilaji's supporters in the academic world and humanitarian aid circles in the U.S. and Canada pulled all the strings they could, and got the University of Toronto to let him continue his studies in health informatics north of the border.
In June that year, Ottawa issued him a student visa in Turkey and allowed him to reunite with wife Jehan Mouhsen and start a new life in Canada. His story made headlines around the world.
Despite Almilaji's numerous achievements since coming here, including a Governor General of Canada medal for his international aid work, Canadian permanent residence is still beyond his reach.
It's been almost three years since he was granted asylum and applied to become a permanent resident with his wife, with whom he has two Canadian-born children, Daria and Omar.
This despite the fact the older sister and her family he helped bring to Canada in September 2019 under a private refugee sponsorship will be on track to apply for citizenship later this year.
I'm happy that my sister and her kids are safe in Canada. They couldn't go back to Syria because of the war and because of my humanitarian work," says Almilaji, who, after his graduation at U of T, worked at Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and is now a project manager with the University Health Network.
I don't feel bitter. I just feel bad about my (lack of) status and try to think about all the great things that has happened to me and the Canadians who have helped me and become my friends. I'm grateful to the Canadian government and I feel ashamed to complain."
Almilaji, 40, arrived in Canada in June 2017 on a student visa and was granted asylum in February 2019; he applied for permanent residence a month later. Mouhsen, 31, a doctor from Montenegro, has been here on a visitor visa because she is not a refugee, though she is his dependant.
The visitor visa doesn't allow Mouhsen to study or work in Canada, let alone travel outside of the country, not even to visit her pediatrician father in the Balkans, who last year contracted COVID-19 and suffered a health scare in the ICU.
I have not been able to do anything with my career in the last four, five years. I can't even apply for medical residency in a hospital because I'm not a permanent resident," said Mouhsen. It's really hard not being able to practise (medicine) and help during the COVID pandemic."
Processing times for permanent residence applications may vary but it generally takes longer for a protected person to be grated permanent status than immigrants in economic and family classes. It's not unusual for accepted refugees to wait one or two years before they receive permanent residency.
In Canada, Almilaji has continued his humanitarian aid work with the Canadian International Medical Relief Organization, a group that he co-founded to provide medical support and treatment to displaced Syrians by sneaking across the border.
Along with two Canadians working on the ground in Turkey, Almilaji established the aid group in 2012. During a polio outbreak in a rebel-controlled area of Syria in 2013, he led a vaccination campaign in the conflict zone, smuggling medical supplies through government checkpoints and immunizing 1.3 million children.
That work won him and his two co-founders - Dr. Jay Dahman and paramedic Mark Cameron - a meritorious service medal from the Governor General of Canada in April 2017 while he was stuck in Turkey.
Almilaji said the immigration department has not updated his application on its online portal since October 2020.
In response to an inquiry from the Star, immigration department spokesperson Julie Lafortune confirmed the couple had applied for permanent residence in March 2019 and the application remains ongoing.
Mr. Almilaji's case has reached the security screening stage. Security screening is performed by partner agencies and is a routine part of the application process. The department is not able to provide a timeline as to when results can be expected," she said in an email.
Almilaji said he has been vetted and cleared by both U.S. and Canadian officials in processing his student visas in both countries and then his asylum claim in Canada.
You would have had to pass the national security clearance to go to the U.S. and come to Canada," said Almilaji, who was actually reissued a new U.S. student visa after Trump's ban was challenged in American courts, but had already resettled in Toronto.
His sister, Yasmin Almilaji, said she couldn't have come to the country without his brother's help.
I feel really bad for Khaled. He is a very caring person. He likes to help everyone in need. It's sad to see him suffer like this," said the mother of six, who arrived here in 2019 as permanent residents under a private refugee sponsorship.
Everything is now on hold for them. It's like the Canadian government has forgotten about them."
Suanne Kelman, who has known the couple since their arrival, said she understands the pandemic has created backlogs and disrupted immigration processing, but Almilaji and Mouhsen have a clear-cut case and the delay is unacceptable.
This is a guy who was slapped in the face by the United States. We welcomed him and his wife. We celebrated them. And now we've left them in limbo," said Kelman, a retired Ryerson University journalism professor, whose neuroradiologist husband Allan Fox was among those who helped bring Almilaji to U of T.
They have a great deal to contribute to Canada and these are the people that we're choosing to ignore."
Nicholas Keung is a Toronto-based reporter covering immigration for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @nkeung