Federal judge clears way for travelers detained at DFW, other airports to stay put | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

At least three people were released after being detained Saturday at DFW Airport, unsuspecting pawns in President Donald Trump’s war on terror who were held on an executive order that bars refugees from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States.

Others could be released after a federal judge in New York granted a stay for the people who were in transit from the seven countries named in Trump’s order. The ruling blocks the government from sending those people back home after arriving at U.S. airports with valid visas.

But the ruling issued by Judge Ann M. Donnelly does not allow those being detained automatic entry into the U.S.

Before the stay was issued at about 8 p.m. Saturday, hundreds of supporters of those being held chanted “this is what democracy looks like” and held signs that read “Release our Family!” and “Deport Trump!!” in Terminal D at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, where family members were angry, confused and frustrated with the treatment of their loved ones.

About 50 people were initially detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at DFW, said Alia Salem, with the DFW Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. She said 40 of those were removed — it’s not clear where they went — leaving nine people in the one holding area. Of those nine, three were released and six were told they would be returned to their home country, Salem said.

Federal officials would not confirm the number of people being detained, and DFW Airport officials declined comment.

Among those being held were the parents of Osama Alolabi, 20, of Syria. He’s a junior at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and his parents came here to visit, but were denied entry.

Aloabi said they’ve been staying in Saudi Arabia but have Syrian passports and were traveling on B1-B2 Visitor Visas, which are generally used for business, tourism or visiting.

“I’m really terrified about my family,” said Aloabi, who last saw his parents in August. “That’s all I can think about, is their safety.”

Mariam Yasin, of Mesquite, said her mother, Najah Alshamieh was released late Saturday afternoon because she has a green card, a government document that verifies permanent residence in the U.S.. Yasin said her mom was treated well, but that wasn’t the case for everyone.

“They’re just waiting on the floor, it’s a very sad situation,” Yasin said.

Salem said “the B-1, B-2 visa holders are not being treated well at all.”

‘We don’t want them’

Trump signed the order — which bans the entry of refugees from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — on Friday, saying it’s designed to “keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America.”

“We don’t want them here,” Trump said. “We want to ensure that we are not admitting into our country the very threats our soldiers are fighting overseas.”

Two flights arrived at DFW on Saturday from the Middle East. Emirates Airlines operates a daily flight from Dubai that arrived around 9 a.m., and Qatar Airways operates a daily flight that arrived from Doha around 3:45 p.m.

The order also covers green card holders and visa holders from those seven countries who are out of the U.S., according to the Department of Homeland Security. The order says they cannot return to the U.S. for 90 days.

Exemptions exist for some immigrants and legal permanent residents, but it’s unclear how that exemption will be applied.

Trump’s crackdown was reverberating across the world. Airlines hurried to block residents from the banned countries from traveling to the U.S. while others who were already in flight when the order was signed were detained upon arriving at airports, including John F. Kennedy in New York and DFW, both of which are huge international gateways.

Both airports quickly became venues for protesters, who took aim at Trump’s order.

Joanna Cattanach, a college journalism teacher and activist from Dallas, saw a Facebook post that people were being detained at DFW and came to show support.

“This is not what America does,” Cattanach said. “This is not what we are about. These are not terrorists, these are grandmothers.”

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings also weighed in, saying he was “deeply disturbed” by what happened at DFW and said on behalf of Dallas, “we’re sorry.”

‘It caught us by surprise’

Neal Behgooy, of Plano, a U.S. citizen, was coming from Tehran, Iran, with his wife, Shima Sefddari, who has a green card. They had been visiting his wife’s mother.

They were detained and questioned for about five hours before being released. He said he saw 30 to 40 people who were being detained and that they were treated well.

Behgooy said, however, that he was surprised that officials didn’t allow for more time before acting on the executive order.

“I would expect for some kind of leeway. It caught us by surprise,” Behgooy said.

He said customs officials mostly questioned his wife, asking about her family, “how long we stayed, what we did while we were there.”

Behgooy said they were were hoping to bring his wife’s mother to the U.S., but “while in flight from Tehran to Frankfurt, Germany, she was denied, so they sent her back, and my wife was in tears.”

Muhammad Mohammed was at DFW to pick up his grandmother, whom he hasn’t seen in five years.

He said she’s in her 70s, in poor health and was told she will be sent back to Sudan.

Salem, with CAIR, said when she heard Trump signed the order “my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach, but I wasn’t surprised.”

She said people need to take a hard look at what the order means.

“This has been done for centuries to marginalized people. We did this to the Jews, to the Japanese, we’ve done this over and over and now we’re doing it to the Muslims, and it never has made us safer,” Salem said.

Staff writer Andrea Ahles contributed to this report, which contains information from The Associated Press.