A 5-year-old boy who was swept up in President Donald Trump’s executive order was reunited with his mother Saturday after enduring a several-hour detention, emotional video shows.
The little boy, who U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) identified as a U.S. citizen and Maryland resident, was seen being showered with kisses as his mother embraced him at Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport, WJZ-TV reported.
The child’s mother, who is reportedly from Iran, declined an interview as she rushed out of the airport. Family surrounding the mother and son meanwhile clutched balloons and sang “Happy Birthday” to the boy, who had been flying with another family member.
In a scathing Facebook post, Sen. Van Hollen criticized the president and shared that the child’s detention occurred despite the senator giving authorities advance notice of the boy’s arrival.
”When I called later in the evening, they refused to say whether he had been released or was still in custody. Shame on you, Donald Trump,” Van Hollen wrote. “We must remain vigilant and fight back.”
Trump’s executive order, which he signed Friday, temporarily bars travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. Syrian refugees are blocked indefinitely.
Trump touted his order as a means to “keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America,” saying, “We don’t want to admit into our country the very threats we are fighting overseas.”
On Saturday, a federal judge temporarily blocked parts of the order. Then on Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus reversed the order’s previous stance of barring green card holders, The New York Times reported.
