A federal court has granted an emergency stay blocking the deportation of migrants detained at airports around the United States due to Donald Trump's immigration ban.
The
federal court for the Eastern District of New York issued the stay
Saturday evening after only two of 12 refugees held at JFK airport were
released, after 14 and 24 hours respectively. The ACLU had filed a
petition on their behalf, but the stay is effective nationwide. Under
the stay, none of the travelers held at airports across the nation can
be sent back. However, the measure doesn't mean they have to be allowed
into the country - leaving them in a grey area.
Earlier on Saturday, Donald Trump defended his new immigration measures,
which prompted outrage as migrants were barred from entering the United
States, including families of refugees and Ivy League students.
The
president denied that his executive order, which bars refugees and
citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the US,
was a Muslim ban.
He maintained that
the ban was 'working very nicely' while chaos broke out in airports as
migrants were stopped and some non-American citizens realized they were
now barred from the country where they were studying or had lived,
perhaps for years.
Trump's comments
came as migrants around the country were detained in airports because
they arrived just after the executive order was signed.
A
senior Homeland Security official told Reuters that roughly 375
travelers affected by the order. Out of the 375, 109 were in transit to
the US and denied entry. Another 173 people were stopped by airlines
from boarding an aircraft to the US. An additional 81 travelers with
green cards or special immigrant visas received waivers.
President Donald
Trump on Saturday defended his executive order barring refugees and
citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the
country.
Trump (pictured
speaking with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull Saturday)
made several phone calls with world leaders from Japan, Germany, Russia
and France while the crisis unfolded.
A crowd of protesters gathered on
Brooklyn's Cadman Plaza Saturday night, outside of the federal court for
the Eastern District of New York that issued the stay.
Protesters rallied in Brooklyn outside of the federal courthouse, which blocked Trump's order temporarily Saturday evening.
Demonstrators
rallied outside the courthouse Saturday night as a judge granted the
emergency stay protecting the detained travelers from deportation.
'No ban': Demonstrators at the massive rally in Brooklyn voiced their disagreement with Trump's executive order
The federal court for the Eastern
District of New York issued an emergency stay (pictured) Saturday
evening. The stay means that none of the travelers detained in airports
around the country can be deported
'It's not a Muslim ban, but we are totally prepared,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Saturday afternoon, according to The Hill.
'It's
working out very nicely. You see it in the airports, you see it all
over. It's working out very nicely and we are going to have a very, very
strict ban and we are going to have extreme vetting, which we should
have had in this country for many years.'
The
stay issued Saturday evening blocks the situation pending a permanent
ruling. The ACLU lawyers who handled the case have also filed a motion
for class certification, which means other people affected by the order
will be able to benefit from the stay as part of a class action.
Judge Donnelly also ordered the government to give a list of people detained due to Trump's order.
The
measure means detained travelers cannot be deported back to their home
countries, but it does not force authorities to allow them into the US.
Judge Ann Donnelly ruled that sending them back would expose them to
irreparable harm.
Trump's ban affects
citizens from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. The
temporary stay also protects refugees with an approved case.
It is unclear what will happen to those detained. A later court date has been set for February.
It was reported shortly after the stay was issued that it wasn't being implemented in several airports.
'We
have gotten disturbing reports that @CustomBorders is refusing to
comply with the court order,' ACLU deputy legal director Cecilia Wang
tweeted. She said she had heard reports that officials were refusing to
pull people from planes sending them back.
A
PhD student detained at JFK was being deported back to Istanbul despite
the stay, BBC Persian correspondent Bahman Kalbasi said on Twitter.
The
Department of Homeland Security said early on Sunday it would comply
with judicial orders not to send back detained travelers.
It
said it would 'comply with judicial orders; faithfully enforce our
immigration laws, and implement President Trump’s Executive Orders to
ensure that those entering the United States do not pose a threat to our
country or the American people'.
Crowds
of demonstrators who had gathered at airports and outside the Brooklyn
courthouse let out cheers when news of the temporary stay broke.
'I
hope Trump enjoys losing. He's going to lose so much we're going to get
sick and tired of his losing,' ACLU national political director Faiz
Shakir told Yahoo News.
The ACLU was getting ready to help between 100 and 200 people.
'This
ruling preserves the status quo and ensures that people who have been
granted permission to be in this country are not illegally removed off
US soil, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project Lee
Gelernt, who argued the case, said.
ACLU
Executive Director Anthony D Romero added: 'Clearly the judge
understood the possibility for irreparable harm to hundreds of
immigrants and lawful visitors to this country.
'Our
courts today worked as they should as bulwarks against government abuse
or unconstitutional policies and orders. On week one, Donald Trump
suffered his first loss in court.'
The National Border Patrol Council, which represents about 18,000 border patrol staffers, previously backed Trump's measures.
'We
fully support and appreciate President Trump’s swift and decisive
action to keep the American people safe and allow law enforcement to do
its job,' the council said in a statement.
'We
applaud the three executive orders he has issued to date, and are
confident they will make America safer and more prosperous. Morale
amongst our agents and officers has increased exponentially since the
signing of the orders. The men and women of ICE and Border Patrol will
work tirelessly to keep criminals, terrorists, and public safety threats
out of this country, which remains the number one target in the world –
and President Trump’s actions now empower us to fulfill this life
saving mission, and it will indeed save thousands of lives and billions
of dollars.'
Two associate professors at the University Of Massachusetts Dartmouth told the Boston Globe
early Sunday they had filed a federal lawsuit against Trump. The
professors, who are both Iran citizens and Muslims, say they were held
unlawfully at Logan International Airport.
Panic
previously broke out after Department of Homeland Security issued a
directive at 4:30 pm on Friday enforcing Trump's executive order to
close down the borders to refugees and visa holders from a list of
banned Muslim-majority countries.
Trump's
order singled out Syrians by indefinitely blocking entry for anyone
from that country, including those fleeing civil war.
The
measure did not address the case of homegrown extremists who are
already in the US, a major concern for federal law enforcement.
Reports
of people being detained came from all around the US on Saturday.
'They're literally pouring in by the minute,' director of the
International Refugee Assistance Project Becca Heller told the New York Times.
About 50 people were held at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, USA Today reported.
Fifty people were also detained at Dulles International Airport, where
protesters gathered. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and Attorney
General Mark Herring have said the state could take legal action against
the ban.
One Yale student said he
would be unable to attend the prestigious Ivy League university. Another
student from the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology said he was
barred from boarding a plane.
A
Stanford University student, a Sudanese national and legal permanent
resident with a green card, was held for eight hours at JFK before being
able to return to California.
An
Iranian scientist was meant to fly to Boston to study cardiovascular
medicine at Harvard but has now had his visa suspended indefinitely.
'This
outstanding young scientist has enormous potential to make
contributions that will improve our understanding of heart disease, and
he has already been thoroughly vetted,' Professor Thomas Michel, who was
going to supervise the student, told The New York Times.
Up to 13 people were detained at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, KUOW reported. Eleven people were held at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Thirteen were detained at Chicago O'Hare according to the Chicago Tribune. At least 50 Iranians were held at Los Angeles International Airport, the LA Times wrote.
Mehdi Radgoudarzi (left) greeted his
wife Susan (right) after being detained for five hours upon his arrival
from Tehran, Iran at San Francisco's SFO International Airport.
Radgoudarzi (center) made his way
through the arrival pick up area with his wife Susan (left) and daughter
Niloofar (right) after being detained at San Francisco's SFO
International Airport as a result of Trump's order.
Niloofar (left) gave her father a hug while Radgoudarzi's wife (right) also greeted him at San Francisco International Airport.
Mazdak Tootkaboni is pictured being
embraced during a demonstration at Logan International Airport in
Boston, Massachusetts. Tootkaboni is a US green card holder from Iran
and a professor at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, but he
was still separated from other passengers and questioned.
A female veteran held a sign reading 'We thought we were helping, sorry' at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
Yolanda Roa, a Latina Muslim, joined the protest to denounce Trump's executive order at Dallas-Fort Worth International.
Demonstrators gathered in the international arrivals area at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to protest on Saturday.
Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney (middle)
alongside Councilwoman Helen Gym (left) and Representative Bob Brady,
addresses a crowd of protestors inside the Philadelphia International
Airport.
The massive demonstration carried on through Saturday evening as 10 out of 12 refugees remained held at JFK airport.
Police stopped a man giving pizza to protesters who were chanting slogans outside Terminal 4 at JFK airport in New York City.
The protest followed Trump's executive order barring refugees and citizens from seven countries from entering the US.
Port Authority Police Department blocked an entrance as protesters gathered outside Terminal 4 at JFK airport.
A sea of protesters gathered outside of Terminal 4 of JFK after people from Muslim countries were detained at border control.
Protesters held a massive rally at New York City's JFK airport Saturday after 12 refugees were detained due to the ban
The protest at John F Kennedy International Airport carried on through Saturday as 11 out of 12 people remained detained
'This is illegal': Demonstrators gathered outside JFK Saturday for a long protest after 12 refugees were detained inside.
J'accuse: One protester held a sign
reading: 'Trump is the terrorist' while another proclaimed: 'This is not
how to defeat ISIS!'.
One of the JFK protesters demanded more protection for immigrant families, as some were detained around the US.
Demonstrators poured into JFK airport all throughout Saturday to express their disagreement with Trump's order.
Travelers reported that police stopped
allowing people without plane tickets onto the Air Train, which goes to
the airport terminals, during the evening (the boarding area to the
train is pictured).
Police at one point blocked protesters
from accessing the Air Train at JFK but Governor Andrew Cuomo later
ordered authorities to let them through.
Cuomo said that
'one of the fundamental rights that is granted to the people of this
country is the right to peacefully protest' as he ordered police to let
demonstrators access the Air Train again.
Hundreds gathered at Chicago O'Hare airport Saturday to speak out against Trump's ban on immigration Saturday.
'Muslims are welcome': One Chicago protester insisted that all should be able to come to the US regardless of their religion.
Hundreds of protesters arrived at Chicago O'Hare airport to protest against Trump's executive order on Saturday.
Protestors rallied at a demonstration
against the new ban on immigration issued by Trump at Logan
International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts.
More than 1,000 people gathered at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to protest Trump's order that restricts immigration.
Protesters gathered at the international arrivals area of Dulles International Airport, where 50 people were detained.
'America wants you here!' Protesters sent a clear message to all visitors arriving at Washington Dulles International Airport.
While a protest unfolded at Dulles
International airport, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and Attorney
General Mark Herring have said the state could take legal action against
the ban.
Demonstrators also gathered in San Francisco International Airport Saturday to protest against the ban on immigration.
'No ban, no wall': One demonstrator spoke out against two of Trump's major campaign promises at the San Francisco rally.
Kayla Razavi, whose family emigrated from Iran, addressed the crowd during the San Francisco protest Saturday afternoon.
Demonstrators hold signs reading 'Home of the free' during the rally against the ban on immigration in San Francisco.
Demonstrators rallied at the Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport Saturday afternoon to protest against Trump's ban.
James Badue, who is with the Minnesota
NAACP, led other opponents in a chant: 'No hate, no fear, immigrants
are welcome here,' as an airport police officer tried to quiet him at
the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Travelers arriving to at the
international gate of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport
were greeted by protesters demonstrating against the executive order
signed by President Trump.
Hillary Clinton tweeted on Saturday evening that she supported those who had chosen to speak out against the ban
Cab drivers at New York City's JFK airport went on strike for an hour from 6 pm to 7 pm Saturday to protest against the ban
Two
families of six from Syria were affected. One was supposed to relocate
to Cleveland, Ohio, after having to flee their home in 2014. But their
trip was canceled.
Another family of
six from the war-torn country was detained at Philadelphia International
Airport Saturday morning even though they had required legal documents
and approved green cards and visas.
Plane passengers were turned away in Dubai and Istanbul, including at least one family who got ejected from a flight.
The fallout from Trump's immigration crackdown grew on Saturday.
The
visa ban sparked fear for some refugees who were already on their way
to the US when the order came into effect and were detained on arrival.
Twelve
refugees were held in New York City's JFK on Friday night. Cabs at the
airport went on strike for an hour from 6 pm to 7 pm to protest against
the ban.
Travelers reported that police
stopped allowing people without plane tickets onto the Air Train, which
goes to the airport terminals, during the evening.
Governor Andrew Cuomo, however, ordered authorities to let protesters onto the Air Train, saying in a statement relayed by ABC that 'one of the fundamental rights that is granted to the people of this country is the right to peacefully protest'.
Protesters also demonstrated at Dallas Forth Worth Airport Saturday afternoon as the immigration ban created chaos.
'He will not divide us': One demonstrator made a plea for unity at Dallas Fort Worth Airport while protesting with his brother.
One demonstrator at LAX re-purposed Hillary Clinton's supporters' motto, this time applying it to the Statue Of Liberty.
People held signs with the names of people detained and denied entry at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday.
Sarah Saedian is pictured speaking
with an attorney about her Iranian relatives as lawyers work to help
family members of passengers affected by the travel ban at Los Angeles
International Airport.
Homa Homaei, a US Citizen from Iran,
is pictured receiving a hug from a lawyer working to help her Iranian
family members effected by the travel ban at Los Angeles International
Airport.
Volunteer lawyers are pictured working pro-bono Saturday in New York preparing petitions for detainees at JFK.
Hameed
Khalid Darweesh, one of the Iraqi refugees, was detained for 14 hours
in New York and released on Saturday afternoon. The second
detainee, Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi, was released around 7 pm on
Saturday after 24 hours.
Darweesh, 53,
had arrived in America on a flight from Istanbul on Friday night, just
hours after Trump implemented the immigration ban.
He had
worked for the US government in Iraq for 10 years as a translator,
engineer and contractor and had a valid special immigration visa to
relocate to America.
Alshawi, 33 - who
was approved for a visa on January 11 - was flying to America to join
his wife and son in Texas. 'I'm sleepy and tired and exhausted,' he told
the New York Post after being released Saturday.
Darweesh pumped his fist in the air outside the airport following his release, as a crowd of supporters cheered him on.
'First
of all I want to thank the people that take care of me and support me.
This is the humility, this is the soul of America,' he told a crowd
gathered outside the airport.
'This is
what pushed me to move - leave my country and come here. America is the
land of freedom… America is the greatest nation, the greatest people in
the world.'
Asked what he thought of Trump he said: 'I don't know. He's a president, I'm a normal person.'
He
was travelling with his wife and three children at the time but they
were not detained. They were heading to Charlotte, North Carolina to
start their new life in America.
Protesters assemble at JFK airport on Saturday to protest Trump's arriving refugee ban.
Protesters
gathered outside New York JFK's airport on Saturday after 12 refugees
were detained trying to enter the United States under Trump's
immigration ban.
Lawyers
for Darweesh and another Iraqi Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi, who
is still detained at JFK, filed a lawsuit on Saturday morning in a bid
to have them released.
The two men were
on separate flights when immigration officials stopped them on Friday
night and took their passports when they landed in New York.
Ten other refugees were still being held at JFK airport.
Republican
lawmakers have spoken out against Trump's immigration ban. Senator
Chris Murphy tweeted: 'To my colleagues: don't ever again lecture me on
American moral leadership if you chose to be silent today.' He later
called the emergency stay a temporary victory.
Representative Charlie Dent also spoke out against Trump's order.
'This is ridiculous,' he told the Washington Post.
'I guess I understand what his intention is, but unfortunately the
order appears to have been rushed through without full consideration.
You know, there are many, many nuances of immigration policy that can be
life or death for many innocent, vulnerable people around the world.'
Representative Justin Amash questioned whether the measure was legal.
'It's
not lawful to ban immigrants on basis of nationality,' he tweeted. 'If
the president wants to change immigration law, he must work with
Congress.'
Senator Ben Sasse said that Trump was right to focus on border control, but said the president's order was is 'too broad'.
'If
we send a signal to the Middle East that the US sees all Muslims as
jihadis, the terrorist recruiters win by telling kids that America is
banning Muslims and that this is America versus one religion,' he said.
'Our generational fight against jihadism requires wisdom.'
Earlier
on Saturday, Cairo airport officials said seven US-bound migrants - six
from Iraq and one from Yemen - were prevented from boarding an EgyptAir
flight to New York's JFK airport.
The
officials said the seven migrants, escorted by officials from the UN
refugee agency, were stopped from boarding the plane on Saturday after
authorities at Cairo airport contacted their counterparts in JFK
airport.
The action at Cairo airport was the first there since Trump imposed the three-month ban on refugees.
Dutch
airline KLM says it had to turn away seven would-be passengers because
they would no longer have been accepted into the United States.
'We
would love to bring them there. That's not the problem. It's just that
this is what the U.S. sprang on the rest of the world - that these
people are no longer welcome,' Manel Vrijenhoek, at KLM's press office,
said.
She said the seven, who were
from the seven blacklisted countries, were due to fly with KLM from
different airports around the world.
In
Tehran, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran would stop
issuing new visas to US citizens in response to Trump's ban, but that
anyone already with a visa to Iran wouldn't be turned away.
Canadian
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to Twitter Saturday afternoon to say
that refugees were welcome in Canada, 'regardless of your faith'.
The
Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee said there was chaos at
airports and in the air following Trump's ban with the organization
already receiving calls for help from green card and other visa holders
after being refused admission.
'Visas
being denied immediately. Chaos at airports and in the air. #MuslimBan
will apply to green card holders attempting to return tonight,' the
ADC's Abed Ayoub tweeted on Friday night.
Trump's
ban puts a 90-day pause on visas and immigration from seven countries
including Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Libya, Yemen and Somalia.
The
order also puts a 120-day ban on all refugee entries into the country
and declares that refugees from Syria are not welcome until further
notice.
After that period of time,
refugees will be accepted only from countries that the State and
Homeland Security Departments decide are safe to work with.
Hameed Khalid Darweesh, who had worked
as a interpreter with the U.S. Army in Iraq, was released from
detention on Saturday. He was detained after flying into New York on
Friday night.
Iran's foreign ministry suggested the country would limit issuing visas
to American tourists in retaliation for Trump's suspension of
immigration and visas.
The
official IRNA news agency carried a statement by the Iranian foreign
ministry on Saturday that said Iran will resort to 'counteraction' to
Trump's executive order.
'Iran, to
defend the dignity of the great Iranian nation, will implement the
principle of reciprocity until the removal of the insulting restriction
against Iranian nationals,' the statement read.
'It will apply corresponding legal, consular and political actions.'
The two countries have had no diplomatic relations since 1979 when militants stormed the U.S. embassy.
Google urged its staff travelling overseas on Friday to immediately return to the U.S. if they would be affected by the order.
CEO Sundar Pichai issued a memo slamming Trump's order saying 100 employees were affected, Bloomberg reports.
The tech company feared its employees, even though they have valid visas, would be stopped from returning to the country.
Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg hit out at Trump condemning his anti-immigration bans.
'The United States is a nation of immigrants, and we should be proud of that,' Zuckerberg said.
Emotional: Muslim travelers were
nervous as they arrived in JFK today as chaos was apparent over the
enforcement of Trump's immigration executive order.
Permitted: Tourists were permitted from Dubai which is not a country on Trump's anti-terror list.
It follows reports that Muslim-majority countries with ties to Trump's business empire have been excluded from the order
Google CEO
Sundar Pichai urged its staff travelling overseas on Friday to
immediately return to the US if they would be affected. Mark Zuckerberg
also penned a post opposing the ban.
It follows reports that Muslim-majority countries with ties to Trump's business empire have been excluded from the order, Bloomberg reports.
Statistics
show Trump doesn't have any business relations with the seven
black-listed countries, but does with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, Egypt and Turkey.
Trump's
order declares that US policy is 'to protect its citizens from foreign
nationals who intend to commit terrorist attacks in the United States;
and to prevent the admission of foreign nationals who intend to exploit
United States immigration laws for malevolent purposes.'
It also gives Homeland Security 60 days to begin providing the president with the names of other countries to add to the list.
The nation will limit the total refugee resettlement numbers to 50,000 per year, according to the order.
Trump's
executive order declares that the U.S. will 'prioritize refugee claims
made by individuals on the basis of religious-based persecution.' But
that only applies when 'the religion of the individual is a minority
religion in the individual's country of nationality.'
Award-winning
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, who is nominated for an Oscar for his
film The Salesman, won't be able to attend after Donald Trump introduced
tough new immigration bans.
Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council, tweeted on Saturday morning that Farhadi would be banned.
The Iranian star of Oscar-nominated
film The Salesman, Taraneh Alidoosti, has already said she is boycotting
the Oscars in protest at President Donald Trump's 'racist' ban on
Muslim immigrants.
Also affected by the order is an
Oscar-nominated Iranian director, who won't be able to attend the
Hollywood award ceremony due to the new immigration bans.
Asghar
Farhadi is nominated in the best foreign film category for his movie
The Salesman but there are fears he may now not be able to attend next
month's Academy Awards.
His native
Iran, which is where The Salesman was filmed, is one of seven countries
listed in Trump's executive order that has placed a 90-day pause on
visas and immigration to the US.
Trita
Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council, tweeted on
Saturday morning that Farhadi would be banned from attending the Oscars
in what has become yet another fallout from Trump's immigration bans.
'Iran's
Asghar Farhadi won't be let into the US to attend Oscar's. He's
nominated for best foreign language film... #MuslimBan,' he wrote.
An Iranian-born actress who stars in Farhadi's The Salesman vowed to boycott the Oscars over Trump's immigration bans.
Taraneh Alidoosti, the 33-year-old known as the Natalie Portman of Iran, took to Twitter with a message for fans on Thursday.
'Trump's
visa ban for Iranians is racist. Whether this will include a cultural
event or not, I won't attend the #AcademyAwards 2017 in protest,' she
tweeted.
Farhadi won an Oscar in 2012
for his film A Separation. The Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and
Sciences has backed the director.
'The
Academy celebrates achievement in the art of filmmaking, which seeks to
transcend borders and speak to audiences around the world, regardless of
national, ethnic, or religious differences,' it told EW in a statement.
'As
supporters of filmmakers—and the human rights of all people—around the
globe, we find it extremely troubling that Asghar Farhadi, the director
of the Oscar-winning film from Iran A Separation, along with the cast
and crew of this year's Oscar-nominated film The Salesman, could be
barred from entering the country because of their religion or country of
origin.
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