Inside the Baltimore office for the International Rescue Committee, there's a lot of concern and confusion.
"We have to pick up the phone and inform relatives, you know, hey your parents are not able to get here, we're not sure when they will," said Ruben Chandrasaker, Executive Director of the International Rescue Committee in Baltimore.
Baltimore families are now in limbo after President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday cracking down on immigration. It bans Syrian refugees from entering the United States indefinitely, suspends the national refugee program for four months, and places a 90-day ban on travel to our country by citizens of seven predominately Muslim countries, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.
Mustafa Fadel fled Sudan three-and-a-half years ago to get away from the war in Darfur.
"I came to America to seek safety and stability," he said.
Since getting married in 2015, Fadel has been trying to get his wife a visa and bring her to Baltimore.
"I feel so bad because I was so optimistic," said Fadel. "I was so excited, planning to buy a house, so maybe one day she will be here."
Dreams that were crushed with one signature.
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Trump says the move is all about security.
"To keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America,” he said. “we don’t want them here."
Refugee advocates like the IRC are strongly against the order, saying we are likely less safe because of it, pointing out that the U.S. already has the most sophisticated refugee vetting system on the planet.
"Most refugees go through interviews, face to face interviews, they have to give detailed background information on more than one occasion, they have to provide biographic and biometric data, and all of this data is run through over 12 government agencies including the FBI, the CIA, the Department of Defense, and others before people are allowed to enter the U.S.," Chandrasaker said.
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