Iranian girl, 12, in need of emergency eye surgery to treat rare condition arrives in New York after travel ban is halted

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A 12-year-old Iranian girl in need of emergency eye surgery that's only available in the Unites States arrived safely at a New York airport on Monday after a court halted the travel restrictions put in place by President Donald Trump that threatened to delay her treatment. 

Alma Kashkooli, 12, had been scheduled to arrive in the U.S. on January 31 with her father from Tehran, Iran - two days after the restrictions took effect - for a planned eye surgery at a Pittsburgh children's hospital.

The surgery she needs is to save her eyes and treat her rare and severe medical condition, congenital disorder of glycosylation.

The disorder impairs the cells' ability to communicate with each other and as a result severely complicates vision, development and coordination. The little girl can barely walk or talk and is also prone to seizures. 

Her 33-year-old mother, Fahimeh Kashkool, said her daughter was likely to go blind if barred from entering the country for her treatment.

For years, the young girl had been traveling to the United States to see her mother and get advanced medical treatment, including a previous surgery in San Diego, for the extremely rare condition that took several years to even be diagnosed.

Iranian Alma Kashkooli, 12, arrived at JFK airport on Monday to get emergency eye surgery that's only available in the United States. She is pictured above being wheeled out of customs by her mother Farimeh Kashkooli

The young girl had been scheduled to arrive in the U.S. on January 31 - two days after the travel restrictions took effect - for a planned surgery at a Pittsburgh children's hospital

The surgery she needs is to treat her condition known as congenital disorder of glycosylation, which severely complicates vision, development and coordination

Her mother is living in the United States on a student visa while she earns a master's degree at New York's Fordham University School of Law. 

She shed tears and smiled as she took her daughter out of the airport through a crowd of well-wishers and reporters on Monday evening John F. Kennedy International Airport.

'I cannot express my feelings in words,' Kashkooli said softly as she waited at the arrival gate on Monday evening.

'I was in pain every single moment, but now I feel so much better.' 

When the travel restrictions were issued two days before her daughter's flight, Kashkooli was rendered nearly speechless.

For years, the young girl had been traveling to the U.S. to get treatment and see her mother who is living in the United States on a student visa while in law school. The girl's current visa allows her to remain in the country as long as her mother's student visa remains valid

But the child's visa became useless when the restrictions went into effect. It has since been revalidated under a court order temporarily halting enforcement of the restrictions

'I couldn't tell her, my little angel, that you're considered as a threat for this country,' she said.

Kashkooli was in an impossible position when Trump signed the controversial executive order last month restricting travel from seven Muslim-majority countries.

She could not go and bring her daughter back from Iran because she might not get back in herself, and she could not get her child to the United States for urgent surgery.

'This little girl has a valid visa, and got caught up in a conflict with which she has no connection,' said attorney Gordon Caplan, whose New York law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher is representing the family pro bono.

Alma's current visa allows her to remain in the United States as long as her mother's student visa remains valid. 

In addition to the 12-year-old girl arriving on Monday, Iranian citizen and U.S. green card holder Cyrus Khosravi was on hand at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (above) to meet his brother, Hamidreza Khosravi, along with his niece, Dena, for the first time

The father-daughter duo traveled to the U.S. while Trump's ban is halted so that Cyrus could meet the little girl

The child's visa became useless when the restrictions went into effect, but has since been revalidated under a court order temporarily halting enforcement of the restrictions.

In addition to the 12-year-old girl arriving on Monday evening at JFK, Iranian citizen and U.S. green card holder Cyrus Khosravi was on hand at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to meet his brother, Hamidreza Khosravi along with his niece, Dena, for the first time. 

The father-daughter duo traveled to the U.S. while Trump's ban is halted so that Cyrus could meet the little girl. They were detained for an additional screening at the airport before being released.

Photos from the airport show Cyrus beaming as he crouched down to pick up his niece when she and Hamidreza got off an escalator to the baggage claim area at the airport. 

The emotional moment that followed shortly after showed the two brothers embracing for a period of time before other family members joined in to greet Hamidreza and Dena.  

Dena and her father were detained for an additional screening at the airport before being released 

The Justice Department filed a brief on Monday evening urging a federal appeals court to reinstate President Donald Trump's travel ban, saying that a judge's order blocking it endangers national security and violated the separation of powers.  

The brief from the Justice Department comes after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco had already turned down a request to immediately set aside a Seattle judge's ruling that put a temporary hold on the executive order. 

Three federal judges with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals are set to hear oral arguments on Tuesday via telephone in an hour-long hearing scheduled to be conducted at 9pm (ET) in regards to the issue, as audio of the hearing to the public will be released promptly after it is over. 

The judges are tasked with determining the fate of the temporary restraining order against the president's executive order, which bans refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States.  

Three federal judges are set to hear oral arguments on Tuesday in the challenge to President Donald Trumps' (pictured above on Monday) controversial executive order on immigration

The president took to Twitter on Monday evening to say the 'threat from radical Islamic terrorism is very real' and said the 'courts must act fast!'

On Monday evening, Trump tweeted that the 'courts must act fast' on the issue. 

'The threat from radical Islamic terrorism is very real, just look at what is happening in Europe and the Middle-East. Courts must act fast!' Trump tweeted.  

The president is forced to wait for a decision from the 9th Circuit panel to see if the ban will remain suspended, as the ruling is expected by many to be appealed to the Supreme Court.

In addition, lawyers for Washington state and Minnesota told the federal appellate court in a filing that restoring Trump's ban on refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries would 'unleash chaos again.'

The filing with the 9th Circuit came early Monday after the White House said it expected the federal courts to reinstate the ban.

Washington and Minnesota said their underlying lawsuit was strong and a nationwide temporary restraining order was appropriate.