Following Donald Trump’s controversial executive order, implementing an “extreme vetting” process of Muslim immigrants, two Iraqi men have filed a lawsuit against the President and the US government for the inconvenience the order has already caused.
The order limits admission to the US for several refugees and visa holders from six Muslim-majority nations, until the Department of Homeland Security figures out a better way to crack down on terrorism. Until then, restricting access to the United States for people who are from “terror-prone” nations is the only way, Trump believes.
According to CNN, the two men, Hameed Khalid Darweesh and Haider Sameer Abdulkaleq Alshawi, were issued visas to come to the United States, however, as a result of Trump’s #Muslimban, they were detained upon arrival in New York on Friday.
In what could be the first legal dispute against Trump’s executive order, the lawyers for the two men maintain that holding people with valid documentation and visas is illegal.
“Because the executive order is unlawful as applied to petitioners, their continued detention based solely on the executive order violates their Fifth Amendment procedural and substantive due process rights,” the lawyers say.
According to the lawsuit, Darweesh obtained a special immigrant visa, after working with the US government in Iraq for a decade after the start of the war in Iraq. On the other hand, Alshawi was granted a visa by the US to meet with his family, who were already granted refugee status by the US for their connection with the US military.
“When Mr. Darweesh’s attorneys approached CBP (Customs and Border Protection) requesting to speak with Mr. Darweesh, CBP indicated that they were not the ones to talk to about seeing their client. When the attorneys asked, ‘Who is the person to talk to?’ the CBP agent responded, ‘Mr. President. Call Mr. Trump,’” court documents state.
According to CNN, an administration official told the organization that if a person has a valid visa to come to the United States but is a citizen of one of the countries under the travel ban, they are not allowed in the country. If the person landed after the order was signed, they will be detained and put on a plane back to their home country. According to the Department of Homeland Security, people who were in the air, would be detained and turned around, as well.
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