immigration officially limited; immediate shitshow

Within hours of President Trump’s executive order limiting immigration from Muslim countries, green card and visa holders were already being blocked from getting on flights to the U.S.

The Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee said people who had already landed were being sequestered at airports and told they have to return to their point of origin.

The Department of Homeland Security issued a directive at 4:30 p.m. ordering the Customs and Border Protection to enforce the executive order.

“For those already here, we won't actually know until the flights back to these areas begin departing,” Abed Ayoub of the ADC said about the crisis.

“We’re hearing from a lot of people concerned about family members, friends, classmates. We're hearing about a lot of folks asking ‘should I cancel my plans,’ and from folks who had to cancel events because of this.”

People who were still in the air as of 10:30 p.m. likely face being blocked at the airport when their planes land, he said.

“If they are already on the plane, they will not be able to enter,” he said.

"We had a few folks land who landed right around the time the order was issued, who were permitted to go through. I guess it was the luck of the draw.”

Green card and visa holders were being blocked from boarding US-bound flights within hours of Donald Trump issuing an executive order limiting immigration from several Muslim countries, according to reports.

US airports were also said to have ordered some passengers who had managed to board flights to return to their point of origin, according to the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC).

ADC’s policy director Abed Ayoub warned visas were being denied with immediate effect and the ban would also apply to green card holders attempting to return to the US overnight.

https://twitter.com/aayoub/status/825136159990886400

https://twitter.com/aayoub/status/825142712810799106

The executive order, titled “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States”, also banned Syrian refugees indefinitely until “significant changes” are made, and halved the annual cap on refugees to 50,000.

The order will affect people from “countries of particular concern”, which is expected to include Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

The ADC warned against green card holders from the listed countries from travelling outside the US until the ban is lifted.

When details leaked earlier this week about a spate of immigration-related executive orders from President Donald Trump, much public discussion focused on a 30-day ban on new visas for citizens from seven “terror-prone” countries.

But the order signed this afternoon by Trump is actually more severe, increasing the ban to 90 days. And its effects could extend well beyond preventing newcomers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, from entering the U.S., lawyers consulted by ProPublica said.

It’s also expected to have substantial effects on hundreds of thousands of people from these countries who already live in the U.S. under green cards or on temporary student or employee visas.

Since the order’s travel ban applies to all “aliens” — a term that encompasses anyone who isn’t an American citizen — it could bar those with current visas or even green cards from returning to the U.S. from trips abroad, said Stephen Legomsky, a former chief counsel to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under President Obama.

“It’s extraordinarily cruel,” he said.

The order bans the “entry” of foreigners from those countries and specifically exempts from the ban those who hold certain diplomatic visas.

Not included in the exemption, however, are those who hold long-term temporary visas — such as students or employees — who have the right to live in the United States for years at a time, as well as to travel abroad and back as they please.

“If applied literally, this provision would bar even those visitors who had made temporary trips abroad, for example a student who went home on winter break and is now returning,” Legomsky said on Friday evening executive order.

Trump made “extreme vetting” of foreigners a cornerstone of his campaign, particularly those from countries that are predominantly Muslim and that he considers hostile to the U.S.

“I’m establishing new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America. We don’t want them here,” Trump said this afternoon, describing the intention of the executive order. “We want to ensure that we are not admitting to our country the very threats our soldiers are fighting overseas.”

Trump signed the directive just before 5 p.m. but it took the White House almost three hours to release the actual text.

About 25,000 citizens from the seven countries specified in Trump’s ban have been issued student or employment visas in the past three years, according to Department of Homeland Security reports.

On top of that, almost 500,000 people from the seven countries have received green cards in the past decade, allowing them to live and work in the United States indefinitely. Legally speaking, green card holders are considered aliens. While lawyers are unsure if they would actually be barred from reentering the U.S. if they have traveled abroad, they conceded it’s a possibility.

An Iranian film director nominated for an Oscar may be unable to attend the prestigious event after Donald Trump banned nationals from 7 Muslim countries from entering the US.

Asghar Farhadi is nominated for best foreign language film for his movie The Salesman, which is filmed in Iran.

However, President Trump last night announced that nationals from 7 Muslim countries will no longer be issued visas to enter America.

Fans of the renowned filmmaker - who won an Oscar in 2011 for his film A Separation - now fear he will be unable to attend Hollywood's biggest night in February.

There are also reports of Syrians who have given up everything who are trapped at US airports and unable to enter the country.

President Trump last night ordered a four-month ban on all refugees entering the US.

The President also singled out refugees from Syria as barred from entering the country indefinitely, or until he himself decides they are allowed in.

No visas will be issued to nationals from six other mainly-Muslim nations including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen for 90 days.

A US judge has issued a stay temporarily halting the deportation of visa holders or refugees under an executive order from President Trump.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a legal case early on Saturday in response to the order.

The judge's stay prevents those "caught up" in the aftermath from being deported, the ACLU said.

The group estimates that between 100 and 200 people were being detained at airports or in transit.

The court decision came as hundreds protested at airports in several US states over Donald Trump's clamp down on immigration.
His executive order, signed on Friday, halted the entire US refugee programme and also instituted a 90-day travel ban for nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Those who were already mid-flight were detained on arrival - even if they held valid visas or other immigration permits.

The ruling, from US District Judge Ann Donnelly, prevented the removal from the US of people with approved refugee applications, valid visas, and "other individuals... legally authorised to enter the United States".

The emergency ruling also said there was a risk of "substantial and irreparable injury" to those affected.

The New York Taxi Drivers Alliance on Saturday said it would not make any pickups from John F. Kennedy International Airport after two Iraqi travelers were detained trying to enter the U.S. following President Trump's immigration ban.

The official Twitter for the alliance tweeted: "NO PICKUPS at JFK Airport 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. today. Drivers stand in solidarity with thousands protesting inhumane and unconstitutional Muslim Ban."

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Saturday sued the Trump administration on behalf of two men who were detained at an airport while traveling back to the U.S. because of President Trump's immigration crackdown.

The suit was filed on behalf of Hameed Khalid Darweesh and Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq, two men from Iraq who were detained and threatened with deportation shortly after arriving at New York’s Kennedy International Airport on Friday, hours after Trump's executive order was signed.

“President Trump's war on equality is already taking a terrible human toll,” ACLU president Omar Jadwat said in a statement. “This ban cannot be allowed to continue.”

Darweesh worked as an interpreter, engineer and contractor for the U.S. government in Iraq from about 2003 to 2013, according to the complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York. His life was in danger in Iraq because of his ties to the U.S., the ACLU said.

Alshawi was traveling to Houston, Texas, to join his wife and child, who are both permanent legal residents of the U.S.

Trump signed an executive order Friday barring people from seven Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and Africa from entering the U.S. Iraq was among that list of countries.
The order also created a 120-day moratorium on the country’s refugee resettlement program, as the Trump administration looks to clamp down on the program’s vetting process for refugees.

Trump has long argued that terrorists are taking advantage of the U.S. refugee resettlement program to enter the country, despite a lack of supporting evidence. As a presidential candidate, he called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” and proposed a Muslim registry.

WASHINGTON -- Two Republicans from the Philadelphia area have broken with President Trump and his executive order barring U.S. entry for all refugees and the citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries -- making them some of only a handful from the GOP to oppose a move that has stirred widespread protests, including in Philadelphia.

U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent (R., Pa.) said U.S. policy, while protecting Americans, should also "protect innocent and vulnerable people abroad."

Most local Republicans, however, have remained silent, including some who have previously denounced bans targeting Muslims, while Democrats from the region have raced to airports to support people detained there and to forcefully denounce the president's actions.

"The president's policy entirely misses the mark," said U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), a Bucks County freshman who noted that he spent more than a decade as an FBI supervisory special agent working on counterterrorism.

"We were focused on solutions, not engaging in partisan attacks or declaring a singular fix to a complicated issue," Fitzpatrick said in a statement issued shortly after midnight Sunday morning. He added, "The reality is, terrorism inspired by radicalism and hate is global in scope and, as such, requires a comprehensive response, not a purely regional focus. While serious actions are needed to protect our country, these must not be done in a way that singles out any specific nations or ethnicities."

U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent (R., Pa.) said U.S. policy, while protecting Americans, should also "protect innocent and vulnerable people abroad."

Congressional Republicans have largely fallen in line behind Donald Trump’s executive orders on immigration. House Speaker Paul Ryan, who once opposed Trump’s “Muslim ban,” has announced his support for the new restrictions. Other prominent Republicans have followed suit.

But Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy (D) says he thinks his Republican colleagues in congress can be persuaded to oppose the new president’s decisions — in part because Murphy doesn’t believe Senate Republicans really support Trump’s crackdown on immigrants and refugees, even if their current statements and actions suggest otherwise.

“Republicans are, by and large, very good people who care about the future of their country. In their hearts, they disagree with the things that Trump is doing,” Murphy says in an interview on Saturday. “It’s understandable that during the first seven days of [Trump’s] administration they don’t want to make big, ugly breaks with him.”

So far, only a handful of Republican members of congress have denounced Trump’s orders. But Murphy says he’ll be pressing his case to the party. “I am going to do my best to shame Republicans into joining us to oppose this measure,” Murphy says.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) said in an interview on Saturday that President Trump had previously asked him about legally implementing a "Muslim ban."

But Giuliani then disputed the notion that the president's sweeping executive order barring refugees and people from seven predominantly Muslim nations amounts to a ban on Muslims.

"I’ll tell you the whole history of it: When he first announced it, he said ‘Muslim ban,'" Giuliani said on Fox News.

"He called me up, he said, ‘Put a commission together, show me the right way to do it legally.’"

Giuliani said he then put together a commission that included lawmakers and expert lawyers.
"And what we did was we focused on, instead of religion, danger," Giuliani said.

At an impromptu press conference at the Omni Dallas, Rawlings said he was “deeply distressed” at the ongoing situation at the airport, where 50 travelers became detainees that day. “This is just not good for our city,” he said. “It’s not good for our state. This is a welcoming place. We want you here.”

On Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump signed an executive order blocking entry into the U.S. for 90 days for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The order also banned all refugees from entering the country for 120 days and banned all Syrian refugees indefinitely. The order also applied to legal green card holders who may have been out of the country or on inbound planes when the order when signed.

According to the mayor, two flights were primarily affected, an inbound Emirates and an inbound Qatar Airways flight. Rawlings is on the DFW airport board and has been in touch with DFW CEO Sean Donohue since the afternoon.

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!
4:35 PM - 9 Feb 2017