--- title: Trump Address to Congress: Warren Brings Iraqi Refugee description: Tiba Faraj, a college junior, will accompany the Senator Elizabeth Warren to President Trump's address to a joint session of Congress. canonical: https://time.com/4685735/donald-trump-congress-elizabeth-warren/ author: Zamira Rahim article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-28T17:44:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:34:46.349Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Address to Congress: Warren Brings Iraqi Refugee og:description: Tiba Faraj's family fled from Iraq and were granted refugee status in the U.S. og:url: https://time.com/4685735/donald-trump-congress-elizabeth-warren/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d14a2c351e45277/6988bc5fcf40a87181c46a53/gettyimages-634417390.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Senate Armed Services Committee Holds Hearing On Situation In Afghanistan og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Address to Congress: Warren Brings Iraqi Refugee twitter:description: Tiba Faraj's family fled from Iraq and were granted refugee status in the U.S. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d14a2c351e45277/6988bc5fcf40a87181c46a53/gettyimages-634417390.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Elizabeth Warren Is Bringing An Iraqi Refugee To President Trump’s Congressional Address by [Zamira Rahim](https://time.com/author/zamira-rahim/) ## Zamira Rahim Feb 28, 2017 5:44 PM UTC  U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) listens during a hearing before Senate Armed Services Committee February 9, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) listens during a hearing before Senate Armed Services Committee February 9, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.Alex Wong—Getty Images by [Zamira Rahim](https://time.com/author/zamira-rahim/) ## Zamira Rahim Feb 28, 2017 5:44 PM UTC Massachusetts Senator [Elizabeth Warren](http://time.com/4664081/senate-elizabeth-warren-mitch-mcconnell-rule-19/) has announced that a college junior who came to the U.S. as an Iraqi refugee [will accompany her](https://www.warren.senate.gov/?p=press%5Frelease&id=1460) to President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress in Washington Wednesday night. Tiba Faraj arrived in Massachusetts in 2010 from Iraq with her family,[ a statement on Warren’s website said.](https://www.warren.senate.gov/?p=press%5Frelease&id=1460) Faraj’s father was shot and left permanently disabled in 2006 while working for a U.S. backed development organization in Iraq. The family then fled to Jordan and applied for refugee status in the U.S. Faraj became a U.S. citizen last year and majors in accounting with a minor in international relations at UMass Dartmouth. Warren’s move is a clear response to the President’s [controversial immigration policies](http://time.com/4648516/donald-trump-immigration-executive-orders/) that include barring Iraqis from the U.S. and [suspending the U.S. refugee program.](http://time.com/4660543/donald-trump-travel-immigration-ban-muslim-ninth-circuit/) “Tiba’s courage, resilience and optimism embody the very best of the American spirit. Our strength as a country is rooted in our diversity, and Tiba’s many contributions have made us that much stronger,” the senator said in a prepared statement. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4685735/donald-trump-congress-elizabeth-warren/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4685735/donald-trump-congress-elizabeth-warren/"},"headline":"Elizabeth Warren Is Bringing An Iraqi Refugee To President Trump’s Congressional Address","datePublished":"2017-02-28T17:44:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:34:46.349Z","description":"Tiba Faraj's family fled from Iraq and were eventually granted refugee status in the U.S.","url":"https://time.com/4685735/donald-trump-congress-elizabeth-warren/","keywords":["elizabeth warren","Congress","Iraq","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d14a2c351e45277/6988bc5fcf40a87181c46a53/gettyimages-634417390.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zamira Rahim","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zamira-rahim/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d14a2c351e45277/6988bc5fcf40a87181c46a53/gettyimages-634417390.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Senate Armed Services Committee Holds Hearing On Situation In Afghanistan","caption":"Senate Armed Services Committee Holds Hearing On Situation In Afghanistan","creditText":"Alex Wong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/elizabeth-warren/","name":"elizabeth warren"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4685735/donald-trump-congress-elizabeth-warren/","name":"Elizabeth Warren Is Bringing An Iraqi Refugee To President Trump’s Congressional Address"}}]}] ```