Trump’s ‘Muslim ban’ causes anguish for families and protesters across US as relatives are detained at airports after US courts BLOCK deportation of visa holders
HUMILIATED travellers to the US to visit family wept as they were detained for up to 12 hours at airports and told they could not enter the country, as their anguished relatives waited to see if they would be allowed in.
Dozens of riot police surrounded protesters at JFK airport in New York as campaigners holding banners saying "Muslim lives matter" and "We are ALL immigrants" filled the streets.
Protests erupted across the US as Donald Trump's immigration ban kicked in, with scores of people left in limbo over their future as a federal judge ruled those with valid visas can't be sent home yet.
Relatives - some elderly - who had travelled to visit relatives in the US were detained for up to 12 hours after Trump's executive order came into force.
Mohammed al Rawi, an Iraqi-born American citizen, said his 69-year-old dad was detained in custody for 12 hours and sent back to Iraq after coming to visit his grandchildren in California.
He said: "What's next? What's going to happen next? Are they going to create camps for Muslims and put us in it?"
Parisa Fasihianifard, 24, was detained and told she must go home after arriving on a long trip from Tehran, Iran, to visit her student husband.
Heartbroken husband Mohamad Zandian, said: "She was crying and she told me she was banned to come inside and go through the gates.
The 26-year-old, who is an Iranian doctoral student at Ohio State University, said he was hoping to get her out of the country on a late night flight to avoid her being jailed until Monday.
A district judge in New York last night issued a temporary emergency block on the ban, ruling that anyone who had arrived in the country with a valid visa or approved refugee application could not be deported.
Among those caught in limbo include Iraqi veterans promised a life in America because of their service to the US military, frail and elderly visitors from Iran and Yemen and longtime US residents travelling abroad who don't know if they will be allowed to return home.
Several people were actually in transit when President Trump signed the order placing a 90-day pause on immigration from seven mostly Muslim countries.
Iraqi Fuad Sharef, 51, and his wife and three children were on their way to the US with a special immigrant visa created for Iraqis who risked their lives to help Americans after the invasion in 2003.
But Sharef and his family were barred from boarding a flight from Cairo, and sent back to Iraq.
He likened Trump's decision to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein - and said his family were "treated like drug dealers".
Sharef said: "I had sold my house, my car, my furniture. I resigned from work and so did my wife. I took my children out of school."
"Donald Trump destroyed my life. My family's life. I used to think America was a state of institutions but it's as though it's a dictatorship."
The family had planned to resettle in Nashville, Tennessee, but were forced to fly back to Arbil in Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan.
The ban has sparked mass protests across the country, with campaigners piling into airports in New York, San Francisco, Dallas, Seattle and Chicago to denounce the ban.
At JFK airport in New York, cabbies went on strike for an hour over Trump’s “inhumane and unconstitutional” immigration policy.
Protester David Gaddis, 43, told AFP: "People are prepared to stand against this.
"It's not surprising that people are mobilising. Every day he's in office, it's a national emergency."
And any Brits born in one of the seven banned countries could be affected.
British Airways says it will offer customers affected by the travel ban a refund for their travel to the US or the opportunity to re-book their flights.
Hamaseh Tayari, a UK resident with an Iranian passport, was due to fly home to Glasgow from Costa Rica via New York but was refused entry onto her flight.
Canadian MP Justin Trudeau said his country will accept refugees rejected by the USA as a result of President Trump’s ban.
German chancellor Angela Merkel - who spoke to Trump yesterday in their first phone conversation - today condemned the ban, saying the fight against terrorism does not justify putting any group under general suspicion.
Indonesia - the world's largest Muslim country - and Iran's foreign ministers warned the ban would incite terrorists and damage the global fight against ISIS.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Peston on Sunday this morning he is totally opposed to the ban, and said Trump's planned visit to the UK later this year should be put on hold.
An official petition to ban Trump from visiting the UK on a planned state visit later this year hit 120,000 and counting in just a few hours - meaning it must be considered for debate by Parliament.
But former Ukip leader Nigel Farage said Britain should take Trump's lead, calling for "extreme vetting"; at our borders.
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani told Fox News that Trump had originally wanted a "Muslim ban", asking lawyers: "Show me the right way to do it legally."
When asked if it was connected to religion, Giuliani said: "When he first announced it he said, 'Muslim ban.'"
The 72-year-old said he and legal experts "focused on - instead of religion - danger" when they drafted the immigration crackdown.
Giuliani said those predominantly Muslim countries were targeted because they are "the areas of the world that create danger for us."
He added: "Which is a factual basis, not a religious basis."
Trump said his order was "not a Muslim ban", but said he would seek to prioritise Christian refugees fleeing war-torn Syria.
An official from the Department of Homeland Security told reporters 109 people in transit on aeroplanes had been denied entry and 173 were stopped from boarding planes overseas.
No green-card holders were ultimately prevented from entering the US, the official said, but several spent long hours in detention before being allowed in.
People with green cards - permanent residential permits given to foreign nationals - will require additional screening before they can return to the US, the White House has said.
Trump's chief of staff Reince Priebus told MSNBC today: "As far as green cards holders moving forward, it doesn't affect them.
"If you're coming in and out of one of the seven countries... you're going to be subjected temporarily with more questioning until a better programme is put in place over the next several months."
Trump took to Twitter today saying: "Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world - a horrible mess!"
His comments came after an American soldier was killed and three others injured in a raid in Yemen which left 14 Al-Qaeda fighters and 16 civilians dead.
Staff at agencies which resettle refugees burst into tears as they spoke about the uncertain futures of those who have waited years to come to the US.
Melanie Nezer, policy director for resettlement agency HIAS, said: "It's complete chaos."
An Iranian woman blocked from boarding at Tehran airport said she had waited 14 years for her green card.
The devastated woman told AFP: "They say the US is the cradle of liberty. I don't see freedom in that country."
US immigration officials confirmed that the ban is already operating at airports in Ireland.
Visa interviews at Dublin and Shannon airports for people travelling to the US via Ireland from the seven countries will no longer be going ahead, reports the .
Among those detained for hours were elderly relatives travelling to the US to visit family.
In Los Angeles, an 80-year-old granddad was held for nine hours and finally released after a protest by his family.
And in San Francisco, Abdollah Mostafavi, 80, was released six hours after his flight arrived from Frankfurt, Germany.
"I'm so happy he's finally out. He says he's very tired," said his daughter Mozhgan Mostafavi, holding back tears and speaking Farsi with her father.
It comes as pressure mounts on Prime Minister Theresa May - who met Trump at the White House on Friday - to condemn the ban.
Downing Street said the PM does "not agree" with it and would appeal to the US if it affects British citizens.
Conservative peer Baroness Warsi wrote on Twitter: "The moment we once again lost a little more moral authority. The hypocrisy of the debate on #Britishvalues becomes more stark by the day."
This afternoon May ordered foreign secretary Boris Johnson and home secretary Amber Rudd to call their American counterparts about the ban, Downing Street said.
Courts in the US have already started blocking deportation orders on individuals.
A federal judge in Seattle issued a temporary order stopping the deportation of two individuals, while another federal judge in Virginia blocked three people detained at Dulles airport from being deported for seven days.
Among those detained at airports last night were an Iranian scientist heading for Boston and visa-holder Hameed Khalid Darweesh, an Iraqi translator working with US troops.
Hameed was held for 17 hours at New York’s JFK Airport before he was allowed to join his family, who had already been admitted. Another Iraqi, Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi, was released on Saturday after 24 hours' detention during his trip to Texas to join his wife and son.
Ten others were still being held at JFK last night as protesters gathered outside to condemn the "Muslim ban" and a 120-day suspension on taking in refugees.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on their behalf, and on Saturday night a judge in the federal court for the Eastern District of New York issued a stay, barring the US from deporting any of those detained.
Judge Ann Donnelly ruled that deportation would cause them "irreparable harm", though her order did not compel immigration officials to release any of those being held.
The stay is effective across the US, and the ACLU plans to widen the suit to encompass all those affected by the ban.
An untold number of foreign-born US residents now travelling outside the country could be stuck overseas for at least three months, while many who are in the country cannot leave.
Those already in the US with a visa or green card would be allowed to stay, according to one official, who wished to remain anonymous.
Among those also believed to be affected is Olympic hero Mo Farah, who is a British passport holder but was born in Somalia – one of seven countries to which travel restrictions apply.
It emerged late on Saturday that the restrictions would also apply to people with dual citizenship - including Brits.
The gold medal-winner - who now lives in the US - is understood to be away training in Ethiopia – meaning he may not be able to return home to his family.
The Sun contacted Farah’s representatives for comment.
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A Tory MP and his wife are also among those affected by the travel ban.
Nadhim Zahawi, MP for Stratford-upon-Avon, revealed he and his wife were both unable to travel to the US because they were born in Iraq.
On the Marr show this morning said he felt discriminated against by the "demeaning" ban.
He wrote on Twitter: “What if you are British of Iraqi origin, as I am? A sad sad day to feel like a second class citizen! Sad day for the USA.”
The politician later followed this up with a second post, tweeting: “Had confirmation that the order does apply to myself and my wife as we were both born in Iraq. Even if we are not dual Nat.”
Officials in Egypt also prevented seven migrants from boarding a flight to the US yesterday.
There were also fears last night that Iranian film director Asghar Farhadi, 45, will not be allowed to attend next month’s Oscars. He is up for a Best Foreign Film Academy Award for The Salesman. He won the category in 2012.
Iran, one of the seven nations barred by Mr Trump, called the ban an insult. It vowed to block all US citizens from entering its country in response.
In Turkey, PM Theresa May refused three times to condemn the US stand. But after arriving back from Ankara her spokesman said: “We do not agree with this kind of approach.”
Trump said the ban was “working out very nicely”.
Some of the chaos and confusion was blamed on the Trump administration, which has yet to issue guidance to airlines on how to implement the executive order.
A senior Homeland Security official told : "Nobody has any idea what is going on.";
All over the world there was chaos at airports as the ban came into force.
Seven people - six Iraqis and a Yemeni - were stopped from boarding a flight from Cairo, Egypt, to New York despite having valid visas to travel to America.
And Dutch airline KLM also revealed it had to turn away seven would-be passengers because they would no longer have been accepted into the US.
KLM spokesperson Manel Vrijenhoek said: "We would love to bring them there. That's not the problem.
"It's just that this is what the US sprang on the rest of the world that these people are no longer welcome."
She revealed the seven were due to fly with KLM from different airports around the world.
Vrijenhoek said she had no specifics on their nationalities, although she confirmed they were from countries affected by the three-month immigration ban – Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.
The ban sparked panic when it came into effect at 4.30pm on Friday with many passengers left in legal limbo as to whether or not their valid visas would be accepted if they tried to enter the US.
Two of the first people blocked from entering the United States were Iraqis with links to the US military.
Hameed Khalid Darweesh and Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi were detained by immigration officials after landing at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday night.
One of them, Darweesh – who worked as an interpreter for the US Army in Iraq – was released on Saturday afternoon.
After being detained for nearly 19 hours, he began to cry as he hugged friends and protesters in emotional scenes.
He told reporters: “What I do for this country? They put the cuffs on.
“You know how many soldiers I touch by this hand?”
As well as Alshawi , 10 others remain detained at JFK, according to Democratic congressman Jerrold Nadler, who went to the airport to press for the release of the first two men.
Nadler told CNN: "It is certainly mean-spirited and ill conceived. It is certainly an instance of religious discrimination."
A spontaneous protest began outside the airport, rapidly growing in size.
Demonstrators chanted and waved placards as it was announced that legal challenges were being launched.
Google are understood to have recalled all their staff travelling abroad back to America over visa fears.
reports that a memo sent to Google’s staff stated that over 100 employees were affected by the situation.
The memo, written by the tech giant’s CEO Sundar Pichai, read: "It’s painful to see the personal cost of this executive order on our colleagues.
"We’ve always made our view on immigration issues known publicly and will continue to do so."
The new ban was introduced by the Republican president yesterday as part of a move that he described as allowing for “extreme vetting” and to “keep terrorists out”.
Trump's executive order places a ban on travel to the US by people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia for 90 days.
He has also suspended the US Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days.
Visiting the State Department on Friday, Trump said: “We are establishing new vetting measures, to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America.”
He added: “We don’t want ‘em here. We want to ensure we aren’t admitting into our country the very threats that our men and women are fighting overseas.”
Donald Trump's potential list of countries that have travel restrictions placed on them
- Syria – Ravaged by civil war for nearly six years, the lawless country is the home base and training centre for a host of terror groups, including ISIS and the formerly Al Qaeda-linked Al Nusra Front.
- Iraq – Unstable since the 2003 US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, ISIS took over swathes of the country with ease in 2014, taking advantage of the sympathetic Sunni minority that made the same areas a breeding ground for Al Qaeda during the anti-West insurgency.
- Iran – A radical Islamist republic since the 1979 revolution – remembered by many in America for the hostage crisis after the country’s embassy in Tehran was stormed – Iran was branded “the foremost sponsor of terrorism in 2015” by the US State Department.
- Libya – Essentially a failed state since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has seen jihadi groups flourish in recent years, with between seven and nine radical organisations believed to be operating there, according to one US official.
- Somalia – Arguably the world most famous and longest-running failed state, with no effective government since 1991. Home to infamous jihadi group Al Shabbab.
- Sudan – Previously on the State Department’s list of terror sponsors and still a supporter of Palestinian terror group Hamas. Previously used as a transit point for Brit jihadis looking to travel to Syria.
- Yemen – A long-time haven for Al Qaeda and now with a growing ISIS presence since the country was carved in two by the recent civil war which broke out in 2014.
The move by the new US president has drawn heavy criticism.
Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai, shot in the head by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012 to stop her campaigning for girls' education and co-winner of the 2014, said she is “heartbroken” by the ban.
She released a statement saying: “I am heartbroken that today President Trump is closing the door on children, mothers and fathers fleeing violence and war.”
And Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg slammed the ban, saying: “We need to keep this country safe, but we should do that by focusing on people who actually pose a threat.”
But in Turkey, PM Theresa May refused three times to condemn the travel restrictions.
At a press conference in Ankara, she would only say: “The US is responsible for its policy.”
But the president defended the order, telling reporters it was "not a Muslim ban".
He said: "It's working out very nicely. We're going to have a very, very strict ban and we're going to have extreme vetting, which we should have had in this country for many years."
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