In the early morning hours of July 18, Mahmood Salem told his family over the phone that he had a gun in his hand and was going to kill himself.
The Yemeni U.S. citizen had called his family after turning off the lights, locking the doors and flipping the sign to closed at Fat Boys grocery store in Crowley, Louisiana, his family said. From his apartment in the back of the store, Salem, 31, phoned his wife and five children who were living in Djibouti on the east coast of Africa. Salems three youngest kids are U.S. citizens, but his wife and two oldest are not and they were denied visas under President Donald Trumps travel ban.
Salem was one of thousands of Yemeni-Americans separated from non-U.S. citizen family members by the presidential proclamation. The travel ban blocks immigration from seven countries, including business, visitor, lottery, or family reunification visas for Yemenis. In effect since December, the ban was upheld by the Supreme Court in June.
During his last phone call with his family in Djibouti, relatives said Salem told them he didnt have enough money to support them in Djibouti, where rent can be six times higher than in Yemen. Salems brother said he borrowed $7,000 from family but still couldnt make ends meet. Meanwhile, Salems children were sick, plagued by bug bites and rashes due to Djiboutis hot climate.
When Salem told his wife and kids he wanted to kill himself and hung up the phone, the family called back again and again with no answer, his brother said. Abdulrahman Ahmed, Salems employer and childhood friend, told NBC News he received a frantic call from Salems 14-year-old son asking him to go check on his father.
Ahmed found Salem at 3:30 a.m. in his room: He had died by suicide, fatally shooting himself. A shocked Ahmed told police Salems only problem was trying to support and reunite with his family since war erupted three years ago in Yemen.
Salems relatives and friends said theres no evidence he had mental health issues.
We have a good relationship with each other. We dont have any problems. We had spoken with him, we never thought it would happen, said his older brother Mimun Salem, who lives in Michigan.
Mimun Salem said maybe his brother was lonely staying with friends in Louisiana since the beginning of this year, but believes the main motivation for his suicide was the denial of his familys visas under the travel ban six months ago.
why was a man who already resided in the us denied visas for his family? ---