Donald Trump’s Fortress America policy has
claimed its first victims: Five Iraqi passengers
and one Yemeni were on Saturday barred from
boarding an EgyptAir flight from Cairo to New
York.
The passengers, arriving in transit to Cairo
airport, were stopped and re-directed to flights
headed for their home countries despite holding
valid visas, Reuters has reported.
On Friday, Trump slammed a four-month hold on
allowing refugees into the United States and
temporarily barred travellers from Syria and six
other Muslim-majority countries, saying the
moves would help protect Americans from
terrorist attacks.
In the most sweeping use of his presidential
powers since taking office a week ago, Trump
paused the entry of travelers from Syria and the
six other nations for at least 90 days, saying his
administration needed time to develop more
stringent screening processes for refugees,
immigrants and visitors.
“I’m establishing new vetting measures to keep
radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States
of America. Don’t want them here,” Trump said
earlier on Friday at the Pentagon.
“We only want to admit those into our country
who will support our country and love deeply our
people,” he said.
The order seeks to prioritize refugees fleeing
religious persecution, a move Trump separately
said was aimed at helping Christians in Syria.
That led some legal experts to question whether
the order was constitutional.
One group said it would announce a court
challenge on Monday. The Council on American-
Islamic Relations said the order targets Muslims
because of their faith, contravening the U.S.
Constitutional right to freedom of religion.
“President Trump has cloaked what is a
discriminatory ban against nationals of Muslim
countries under the banner of national security,”
said Greg Chen of the American Immigration
Lawyers Association.
The bans, though temporary, took effect
immediately, causing havoc and confusion for
would-be travelers with passports from Iran, Iraq,
Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Trump has long pledged to take this kind of
action, making it a prominent feature of his
campaign for the Nov. 8 election, but people who
work with Muslim immigrants and refugees were
scrambling on Friday night to determine the
scope of the order.
Even legal permanent residents – people with
“green cards” allowing them to live and work in
the United States – were being advised to
consult immigration lawyers before traveling
outside the country, or trying to return, said
Muslim Advocates, a civil rights group in
Washington.
On Friday evening, Abed Ayoub of the American-
Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said he had
fielded about 100 queries from people anxious
about the order, which he said he believed could
affect traveling green card holders, students,
people coming to the United States for medical
care and others.
“It’s chaos,” Ayoub said.
Alabatvnews.
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