Twin Cities Groom Won't Have Parents At Wedding Due To Travel Ban
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- With less than two months to go for Elizabeth and Mostafa's big day, they're busy finalizing menus and the guest list.
"You start the planning details and never once did it cross my mind that we would run into any issues or bumps," Elizabeth said.
The issue is that two very special guests will not be attending the Minnesota nuptials. It's Mostafa's parents, who are from Iran.
They last visited their son and future daughter-in-law in the states in 2015, but were recently denied travel VISAs for the wedding weekend, twice.
"Once they got there the officer was very nice and polite. But because of their nationality, they were like 'We cannot even take in your application,'" Mostafa said.
Mostafa moved to the U.S. eight years ago to get his PhD at the University of Minnesota. It's where he first met his future wife. He proposed to Elizabeth in 2016, before President Donald Trump's travel ban went into effect.
Today, the ban prevents some or all immigrants, refugees and VISA holders from seven countries, including Iran, from entering the U.S.
"You never pick who you are born to but what we pick and choose is how we treat each other," Mostafa said.
The parents instead plan to be in Canada on the wedding day, where they have family. The couple plans to use Skype to see the wedding, but say it won't be the same.
"It just breaks my heart that they can't be there just for that week even," Elizabeth said.