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Father, daughter survive Syria war zone, reunite with wife in Charlotte

By Blaine Tolison, wsoctv.com
By Blaine Tolison, wsoctv.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dana Tahhan waited two years for the moment when she would be reunited with her husband and 8-year-old daughter.

"We cry. We cry a lot. We cry a lot because there's no words can describe this thing,” Tahhan said.

Pictures at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport on Saturday captured the sheer joy. The war and violence in their homeland of Syria kept them apart all this time.

"I can't believe it, still I can't believe that they are here." Tahhan said.

Dana said for months, her 8-year-old daughter, Nadin, kept asking when she would see her mother again.

Just days after their reunion, they're settling back in as a family, going to SouthPark Mall and visiting Freedom Park.

"I just, like, give her kisses and hugs every five minutes. The same thing for Faysal. He can't believe he holding his son again,” Tahhan said.

Ben Snyder, an immigration attorney, has been working with Tahhan to bring her family to the U.S.

"They've literally survived a war zone. This family is from Aleppo, Syria," Snyder said.

Tahhan was pregnant when she came to Charlotte from Syria and was granted asylum.

It took a mountain of paperwork and two years to get refugee visas for Nadin and Faysal. They were finally able to apply in December.

But President Donald Trump's travel ban went into effect in January, banning refugees from seven predominately Muslim countries -- Nadin and Faysal included.

"They fall in the category of people who are banned indefinitely," Snyder said.

But the ban was challenged in federal court by groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union. It resulted in exceptions to the ban, including one for refugees with family ties in the U.S.

Tahhan described how she and her husband would talk while separated and said, "We going to see each other here in the United States and when we look at each other and say, 'We did it.'"

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