At a coffee shop in northern Virginia, you’ll find a taste of the Middle East.
But President Trump’s travel ban has turned the stomachs of the owner and her staff.
Layla Atik is from Yemen, her employees are from Afghanistan and Eritrea, three of the 12 countries on the restricted list.
“I see firsthand the struggles that my own colleagues go through, and they’re very hard-working people,” Layla told me.
“So, coming here, they’re adding value to this economy. They’re not coming here and causing trouble or anything,” she added.
Atefeh Aslami, who works in the cafe, fled from Afghanistan but now fears she won’t be granted asylum in America.
“If I go back to Afghanistan, the Taliban will kill us,” she said.
“My children don’t want to go back to Afghanistan, especially my girl, who will not be allowed to go to school.
“It’s a matter of life for me, for my husband, for my children, for all of us.”
Pouring from a cezve, a Turkish coffee pot, her Afghan colleague Zahir Moradi said: “If someone is trying to come here… it’s because they need help, because they want to live a better life, that’s it.”
A wall, emblazoned in gold with the words “life begins”, forms the backdrop to a vast array of Middle Eastern coffee and pastries.
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But this 2025 version of Trump’s 2017 ‘Muslim ban’ turns the so-called American dream into a nightmare for millions around the globe.
President Trump claimed last weekend’s firebomb attack in Boulder, Colorado, justified new travel restrictions.
But a Vietnam veteran, drinking coffee with his family at the cafe in Virginia, didn’t believe the latest ban would make America safer.
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He said: “I’m a firm believer in allowing immigration, and I think it’s terrible that we’re deporting people that really have never done anything wrong.
“They just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, they get picked up by ICE (Immigration Compliance and Enforcement), and off they go.”
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His nephew, seated beside him, told me those who think the travel ban is about security were “misguided”.
“I think you fear what you don’t understand,” he said.
When I asked what the administration doesn’t understand, he replied: “Other cultures.”
