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Nimer said the family has \"suffered needlessly\" over more than a year.

\"The fact that they have now issued her the visa means that there wasn't any problem with her visa, she qualified for the waiver, they just didn't -- for whatever reason, they just weren't going to issue it,\" Nimer said. \"This is probably the most egregious case I've seen. If someone in this circumstance can't get a waiver, I don't know who can.\"

\"Obviously, the trauma that they have gone through over the past several months is not going to be erased by the fact that now she got the visa,\" she added.

Saad Sweilem, CAIR Sacramento Valley's civil rights attorney, said in a statement on Tuesday that the organization is \"relieved that this mother will get to hold and kiss her son one last time,\" calling the public support for the family \"incredible.\"

\"Our happiness for the family is tempered by the imminent loss of Abdullah and the fact that he could have been receiving comfort from his mother for many additional days or weeks if the U.S. government had not enforced its racist Muslim ban, or if embassy staff had not required a massive public mobilization to commit an act of humanity,\" Sweilem said in the statement.

During a briefing with reporters Tuesday, Deputy State Department Spokesperson Robert Palladino called it a \"very sad case,\" adding that their thoughts go out to the family at \"this trying time.\"

But he defended the administration's actions, saying visa waivers are decided on a \"case-by-case basis\" and that State Department employees are \"committed to following United States administration law and ensuring the integrity and security of our country's borders.\"

\"PHOTO:
AP
PHOTO: Shaima Swileh, center with her back turned, is greeted by supporters after arriving at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018.
>

\"These are not easy questions,\" Palladino added. \"We've got a lot of Foreign Service officers deployed all over the world that are making these decisions on a daily basis, and they're trying very hard to do the right thing at all times.\"

The hospital where Abdullah is being treated said in a statement Monday it supports \"the family’s desire to come together in Abdullah’s final days. In the meantime, we are doing everything we can to keep the child comfortable and help the family through this difficult experience.\"

Nimer said she represents many clients who have been affected by Trump's travel ban, and that the process for adjudicating waivers is often long and unclear.

\"It's unbelievable to me that they could be so callous,\" Nimer said. \"There are processes and there are procedures to get a visa and that's fine, but you have to have some kind of reasonable time frame for the adjudication of these things, and with the waivers, it just seems completely arbitrary.\"

\"It's sad because if someone in this circumstance can't get a waiver without filing a lawsuit and having a huge public campaign to get her approved, it just goes to show that there's not a real process for the waivers,\" she added.

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