Not only is the new administration putting into place reprehensible policies, the way in which they are doing it is completely amateurish and not thought through. When the ban on refugees was put into place, it took effect immediately, without thought to people who already have legal permission in place, and in this case who were already onboard flights to the U.S. So now we have the situation in which two Iraqi refugees are being detained at Kennedy Airport. The New York Times reports:
Refugees who were airborne on flights on the way to the United States when the order was signed were stopped and detained at airports.
The detentions prompted legal challenges as lawyers representing two Iraqis held at Kennedy Airport filed a writ of habeas corpus early Saturday in the Eastern District of New York seeking to have their clients released. At the same time, they filed a motion for class certification, in an effort to represent all refugees and immigrants who they said were being unlawfully detained at ports of entry.
These two refugees now find themselves in a no-man’s land and their lawyers are being denied access to them. Who are these refugees?:
The lawyers said that one of the Iraqis detained at Kennedy Airport, Hameed Khalid Darweesh, had worked on behalf of the United States government in Iraq for 10 years. The other, Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi, was coming to the United States to join his wife, who had worked for an American contractor, and young son, the lawyers said. They said both men had been detained at the airport on Friday night after arriving on separate flights
Having worked for the U.S. Army/government, these refugees and their families are at risk in Iraq. This story is still unfolding. May these refugees find justice and be allowed to enter the country. May the lawyers receive class certification for the filing, so that this unconscionable ban on refugees who are fleeing for their lives may be reversed.