The real-life consequences of President Donald Trump s executive order on Friday banning Syrian refugees and immigrants from seven majority-Muslim nations became apparent within hours after he signed it.
A wide range of mainly Muslim immigrants learned that their hopes of finding safety in the United States or reuniting with family here were suddenly in serious jeopardy if not dashed entirely. Syrian families approved for resettlement in the U.S. were stuck in limbo at the last minute. Iraqis who risked their lives interpreting for the U.S. military during the war were detained upon their arrival in American airports.
And longtime American residents faced possible indefinite separation from family members. The Trump administration indicated that 500,000 American green card holders from these countries Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen would be approved for re-entry only on a case-by-case basis. Dozens of green card holders were detained upon arrival in the U.S. on Saturday.
On Saturday, a federal court ruling temporarily halted parts of the travel bans, preventing the U.S. government from deporting refugees who had already been cleared by immigration authorities. And Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly issued a statement late Sunday suggesting that possession of a green card would virtually guarantee an individuals admission barring any major evidence the person threatens public safety.
But confusion persisted as to how the executive order will be enforced, particularly given federal authorities refusal to abide by another federal ruling mandating access to attorneys for green card holders detained over the weekend at Washington Dulles International Airport.
Below are the stories of just a few of the people whose lives were rocked this weekend by the signing of the executive order.
An Iraqi interpreter who served the U.S. for 10 years
Hamid Khalid Darweesh, a former Iraqi interpreter for the U.S. Army, and Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi, an Iraqi refugee, were detained upon arrival at New Yorks John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday night.
Darweesh, who was released Saturday afternoon, said at a press conference that he had endured hours of questioning during his overnight detention.
But he nonetheless emphasized his excitement at arriving in the U.S., which he called the greatest country in the world.
Earlier on Saturday, Mark Doss, an attorney with the International Refugee Assistance Project who is representing Darweesh and Alshawi, told CNN that he had been unable to communicate with his clients during their detention.
Alshawi was coming to reunite with his wife, a former U.S. government contractor, and his children, who already live in the United States. He remains in detention along with 10 other immigrants being held at the airport, according to Murad Adawdeh of the New York City Immigration Coalition.
Theyre treating them like they have no rights, Adawdeh said.
While Afghanistan is not on the list of proscribed countries, an Afghan interpreter was detained at San Francisco International Airport on Friday while his wife and children were allowed through, according to Matt Zeller, founder of No One Left Behind, a nonprofit that helps Afghan and Iraqi combat interpreters resettle safely in the United States.
A Sudanese green card holder who devotes her life to human rights advocacy
Azaz Elshami, a Sudanese citizen in her mid-30s, has been a permanent U.S. resident since 2012, when she was picked in a State Department lottery. Prior to that, she worked at the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia, where she had an American security clearance.
Elshami, who now earns a living as a nonviolent-communication consultant, was on vacation visiting friends in Ethiopia when Trump issued his executive order barring immigration from Sudan.
Although she is a green card holder, Elshami told HuffPost on Saturday that she is not willing to take her chances at an American airport without a lawyers help. She worries that if the United States turns her away, she will ultimately be sent back to Sudan, where her work advocating for human rights would put her life in danger.
This is the irony: I dont approve of my countrys government. I have not visited Sudan since 1997. And yet I am living with the consequences of this government, she told The Huffington Post.
Elshamis Ethiopian tourist visa will soon run out, at which point her options will dwindle. She plans to go to a country that accepts Sudanese citizens without a visa and begin the process there of securing U.S. approval for her re-entry. Meanwhile, her aging mother, who recently survived a heart attack and relies on Elshamis assistance, is living in the United States.
This is not the America that I know. I will refuse to hold this as the image of the America that I know, she said.
An Iraqi family who waited 4 years for visas
Meathaq, 45, and Mahmoud, 49, of Baghdad just arrived in Knoxville, Tennessee, in August with their 5-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter. But they have twin 18-year-old daughters still living in Iraq.
Thanks to Mahmouds work as a translator for the U.S. Army, they were able to get special immigrant visas. The process for approving those visas took four years, beginning when they first applied in 2012. In the interim period, Iraqs deteriorating security situation began to endanger them. Mahmoud was seriously wounded by a car bombing in 2014.
By the time their visas were approved, their daughters were over 18, which meant the U.S. government required additional processing before it would green-light their admission. Now the twins are stuck in Baghdad, and their parents fear the family will not be able to reunite. (Meathaq and Mahmoud withheld their last names out of concern for their older daughters safety.)
I am crying all the time, especially after the new law from President Trump, Meathaq told HuffPost. I miss them and the situation in Iraq is so bad and I dont know what to do to help.
_(720p).jpg)
 OFFICIAL HD MUSIC VIDEO.jpg)
.jpg)
