Trump's immigration ban causes chaos in many places

Trump's ban on refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries caused anger and chaos as many were forced to return home on January 28 and 29.

New President Donald Trump's recent ban affects people with passports from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Syria, or even those with green cards entering the US.

According to Reuters, many lawyers in New York have filed a complaint to oppose this ban. They said many people were illegally detained.

On January 28, President Trump signed a new executive order, temporarily suspending the admission of refugees from all over the world and banning immigration from seven Muslim countries. He said the new move would protect Americans from terrorism.

Countries subject to US President Donald Trump's immigration ban (red). Graphic: Bloomberg.

The order immediately sparked anger among Arabs from the Middle East and North Africa, who believe the ban hurts their dignity and is discriminatory. The ban has also drawn criticism from Western allies of the United States, including France, Germany, Arab-American groups, and human rights organizations.

“This is a crazy, terrible decision that hurts Americans more than us or anyone else, because it shows that the president cannot manage people, politics or relations with the world,” said a Yemeni-American security officer.

According to a spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security, the ban even affects green card holders, who are granted the right to live and work in the US.

In Cairo, Egypt, five Iraqis and one Yemeni were barred from boarding an EgyptAir flight to New York on January 28. Hameed Khalid Darweesh, a 53-year-old Iraqi who worked as a translator for the U.S. military for 10 years, was detained at the airport for 14 hours. They were held in the airport’s transit area and told to return home despite having valid passports.

Many Muslims are afraid at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York before President Donald Trump's immigration ban to the US. Photo: Reuters.

In addition, an Iranian Oscar-nominated director was barred from attending next month's awards ceremony. Twelve asylum seekers were also detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on January 28.

Many people were angry and protested outside the airport to protest the arrests.

“First of all, I want to thank everyone who supported me. This is humility, this is the American soul. This is what motivated me to continue my journey to America. America is the land of the free, the greatest country with the greatest citizens in the world,” Mr. Darweesh told the crowd outside the airport.

According to Manna Yegani, an attorney with the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), customs and border control departments at many US airports did not announce the new ban as of early yesterday afternoon.

Many green card holders were questioned for hours. In Canada, authorities are not allowing Canadian and Iranian citizens to board flights to the United States.

“Their journey (to the US) is legal. They have jobs and means of transportation in the US,” Ms. Yegani said.

Iran's foreign ministry is considering restricting visas for American tourists in response to Trump's ban. Iran and the United States do not have diplomatic relations.

Google also urged its employees to return to the US as soon as possible to avoid being affected by the ban. The father of the social network Facebook also condemned Mr. Trump's immigration ban. Meanwhile, according to the Huffington Post, the father of technology legend Steve Jobs, an immigrant of Syrian origin, would not have been allowed to enter the US if the ban that Mr. Trump just signed was issued in the middle of the last century.

However, Mr. Trump's ban has not only received opposition. House Speaker Paul Ryan yesterday expressed support for the new president's decision.

“Our number one job is to protect our nation. America is a compassionate country and I support refugee resettlement, but now is the time to re-evaluate and strengthen our visa screening process. President Trump is right to do that, to make sure we know who is coming into the United States,” he said.

Previously, Mr. Ryan criticized Mr. Trump for his offensive remarks about the mother of a Muslim American soldier who died in 2004.

According to Zing.vn