Trump’s Immigration Ban Stops Iraqi Refugee From Coming To Texas

On Friday President Donald Trump signed an executive order that put a 90 day pause on immigration to the United States from 7 Muslim-majority countries.

Chaos and panic has broken out at airport all over the United States and at other airports across the world. The Department of Homeland Security issued an order Friday afternoon enforcing President Trump's executive order to "close down the borders to refugees and visa holders from a list of banned Muslim-majority countries."

The countries include Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia.

The visa ban has caused problems for not only people traveling from these countries into the United States as well as some that were detained upon arrival.

One of those few was Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi, an Iraqi man whose family is already living in the United States. The husband and father was granted a Follow to Join visa earlier this month on January 11th. The man's wife and son were granted refugee status because of the family's work and association with the United States military.

According to a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of the man, Alshawi's wife worked for a U.S. contractor and now lives in Houston, Texas with the couple's son.

Alshawi's wife from 2006-2007 as an accountant for U.S. contractor Falcon Security Group. In the lawsuit,

“Mr. Alshawi heard through neighbors in the family’s community in Baghdad that, due to the family’s association with the U.S. military, insurgents thought that they were collaborators.”

Also in the lawsuit,

“In 2010, insurgents attempted to kidnap Ms. Alshawi’s brother. A month later, an IED placed on Mr. Alshawi’s sister-in-law’s car detonated, killing her husband and severely injuring her and her daughter. Fearing for their safety, Mr. Alshawi and his wife moved from Baghdad to Erbil, Iraq.”

Alshawi was immigrating to the United States through Stockholm and was in the air when the executive order went into effect at 4:30 p.m. His plane arrived at the JFK International airport at 8:22 p.m. on Friday. He was detained and is currently still at the JFK International airport. Those being detained have angered and protestors have gathered inside and outside of many airports all over the United States, including JFK.