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JUDY WOODRUFF: Nearly eight weeks have 
passed since President Biden lifted one

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of his predecessor's most controversial 
immigration policies, the Muslim ban.

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Yet, despite that early 
action, many separated families

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still are blocked from 
entering the United States.

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"NewsHour" special correspondent 
James Fox has the story.

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JAMES FOX: Inside the arrivals terminal 
at Louisville International Airport,

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a moment once considered 
impossible is finally taking place.

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A family split in two, the mother and 
children building a new life in Kentucky,

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the father trying to 
escape an old life in Iran,

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is finally reuniting after being 
separated for nearly five years.

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FARSHAD AMIRKHANI, Iranian Immigrant:

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We proved each other that we 
are belonging to each other

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forever, because even the 
separation couldn't separate us.

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JAMES FOX: Farshad Amirkhani was 
supposed to fly to the U.S. in 2017,

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only months after his wife and 
children made the journey themselves.

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But that all changed when 
then-President Donald Trump signed 
an executive order now known by many

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as the Muslim ban, a ban which 
went into force the very same 
day that Amirkhani was scheduled

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to enter the U.S. As a father, 
Amirkhani has missed out on nearly 
half of his children's lives,

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so he is humbled to be one of 
the first Iranian immigrants to 
resettle in the U.S. in years.

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FARSHAD AMIRKHANI: Home sweet home?

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(LAUGHTER)

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WOMAN: This is your home.

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(LAUGHTER)

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JAMES FOX:

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Their reunification is, in large 
part, thanks to a series of 
executive orders signed by President

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Joe Biden on his first day in 
office, one of which fulfilled 
a signature campaign promise.

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JOE BIDEN, President of the United 
States: If I have the honor of 
being president, I will end the

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Muslim ban on day one. And we're 
going to restore American leadership 
around the world, starting by

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putting our democratic values 
and our diplomacy at the center 
of our foreign policy again.

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JAMES FOX: Biden also instructed his State 
Department to resume visa processing,

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particularly for those who had 
already been interviewed by a 
consular officer, like Amirkhani.

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Still, even with many of the 
Trump era travel bans out of 
the way, some critics believe

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that Biden has not moved quickly enough to 
reverse all of his predecessor's policies.

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Specifically, two travel ban 
extensions which had halted all legal 
immigration during the pandemic,

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were not lifted by the president 
until the end of February, five 
weeks after his inauguration.

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Now, for most visa applicants, 
that five-week delay was just 
another hurdle in what is already

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a very long line of obstacles. But 
for thousands of others who had 
been granted temporary visas to

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enter the U.S. in 2020 and 2021, 
a delay like this is potentially 
disastrous, because, while

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many may have been approved to 
come to the U.S. before those 
additional bans were put in place,

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the expiration date on their visas has 
not changed, meaning their travel window,

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which was originally about 10 months, 
has been reduced to a matter of weeks.

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What's more, a backlog in 
applications, combined with the 
pandemic, means some of those promised

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visas are now beginning to 
expire before they can even be 
delivered by the State Department.

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CURTIS MORRISON, Immigration 
Attorney: What we're facing is, 
all of their immigration paths end.

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And when I say end, I mean end.

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JAMES FOX: Curtis Morrison is an 
immigration attorney who has been

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suing the Biden administration to 
lift the immigration bans extended

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by President Trump in his 
final weeks in office.

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His lawsuits, four in total, are 
still being argued in virtual 
court on behalf of more than

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2,000 plaintiffs who are running out 
of time to get into the country before

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their long-awaited visas expire, that is, 
unless Congress or the courts intervene.

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CURTIS MORRISON: So, these people 
were extremely lucky to be selected

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once. The idea that they could be selected 
another time is a very remote possibility.

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So, basically, they have been selected, 
they have gone through the process,

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they have done everything 
right. They have made all these 
arrangements. They went to hotels,

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sometimes third countries, where 
they were ready to enter the U.S.

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as soon as the proclamation was 
over. And then Trump extended 
it, and Biden let it stay.

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JAMES FOX: Ever since his first daughter 
was born in 2019, Pouria Mojabi,

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an Iranian-born tech entrepreneur in 
Oakland, has been working with Curtis

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Morrison to bring his parents 
to the U.S. to help him and 
his wife raise their children.

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Even though he is an American 
citizen, his parents' hopes of

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watching their grandchildren grow have 
been made impossible by the Muslim ban.

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POURIA MOJABI, Tech Entrepreneur: 
We just wanted to see my parents,

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and we fought every single day. 
I mean, nothing worked. This past

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three, four years, I'm -- I did -- I mean, 
I personally did a lot of protesting.

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I am part of two, three different 
lawsuits, spent a lot of money 
for legal fees and lawyers.

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Fought with every possible thing 
we could. I mean, nothing worked.

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JAMES FOX: Nor is anything expected 
to work, at least soon, because,

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as of today, U.S. consular 
officers have not even scheduled 
an interview with his parents,

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an essential step towards 
being issued a visa.

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Responding to questions on how 
they were addressing the backlog,

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the State Department told the "NewsHour": 
"We are working daily to find ways

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to increase the number of immigrant 
visa appointments, despite COVID-19."

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Like many other separated families, 
that's an assurance which,

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according to the Mojabis, is not enough 
to recover the time that has been lost.

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MOSADEGH MOJABI, Grandfather: We wish 
to be able to see them every day,

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to see them when they are born, 
to see them when they grow up.

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And we have been deprived of this.

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We can talk to them by the Internet, but 
we are not sure that they know us at all,

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if they love us at all. 
And that is suffering.

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JAMES FOX: Suffering, Curtis 
Morrison believes, which is unlikely 
to end with a new president.

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CURTIS MORRISON: I do think that the 
Biden administration will use the pandemic

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as an excuse not to follow through 
with promises, specifically 
about immigration especially,

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because, even if they -- he 
does undo Trump's policy, it's 
not going to solve the problems

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that Trump created. That is going to 
take some very creative solutions and

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a big commitment, ambitious commitment, 
and I don't think that the will is there.

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JAMES FOX: Despite the 
families who long for it to be.

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For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm James Fox.