Introducing Dr. Abdulkader Dahhan, MD (Harlan, Kentucky)

My work takes me several times a year to the heart of Appalachia. It is Trump country. Harlan County, for example, voted 84.9% for the president. They likely share his nativist views.

When I visit Harlan, I am struck by this contrast: the population is almost entirely white; but many of their doctors have names that suggest that these professionals are aliens. 

Often, these doctors work here on an H-1B visa. It has stringent requirements—the gist is a professional degree at an accredited university overseas, plus a license in the U.S. to practice medicine. 

Only then is the doctor given permission to travel to the U.S. to be a doctor.

At that, the visa lasts only three years, though it can readily be extended another three years. Many of these doctors love America. They petition for “green card” status, a lengthy and expensive process.

Dr. Dahhan is an MD who lists his pulmonary practice online. I know nothing particular about Dr. Dahhan; but his name suggests the possibility that he is in America on a temporary work visa.
These H-1B visas, by the way, are very common-- and key to note, even with Trump's clarification, H-1B physicians cannot leave the U.S. and regain entry if they are from a nation on the list.

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Here is a review from a patient of Dr. Dahhan:

Jan 07, 2016

He is a hometown friendly doctor. He not only treats the patient, but also takes into account if they can afford the prescribed treatment and meds. He and his staff try to help, anyway they can. He is very blunt, but cares deeply. Very intelligent, hands down the smartest doctor around.

Who wouldn’t want Dr. Dahhan as their doctor? If he is from Iran, Iraq or one of five other Muslim nations in the ban, the answer is Donald Trump wants to bar his entry—and bar the entry of any family member of Dr. Dahhan’s in those Muslim nations.

The 84.9% of voters for Trump in Harlan, Kentucky are about to see their medical choices significantly constrained by this ill-considered, bigoted executive order.