Report: Federal Judge Blocks Part Of President Trump's Immigration Order
NEW YORK (KDKA/AP) - A federal judge in New York has issued an emergency order temporarily barring the U.S. from deporting people from nations subject to President Donald Trump's travel ban.
JUST IN: Federal judge grants ACLU request to temporarily stop detention of men at JFK based on Pres. Trump's exec order
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 29, 2017
WATCH: Immigrants rights attorney Lee Gelernt coming out of the court where the ACLU argued to block Trump's unconstitutional Muslim ban. pic.twitter.com/uuceRwT8jo
— ACLU National (@ACLU) January 29, 2017
U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly issued the order Saturday evening after lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union filed a court petition on behalf of people from seven predominantly Muslim nations who were detained at airports across the country as the ban took effect.
Cheers broke out in a crowd of demonstrators outside a Brooklyn courthouse as the decision, effective nationwide, was announced.
Protesters had gathered outside John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York early Saturday, furiously demanding the release people blocked from entering the United States.
On Friday, President Trump signed an executive order suspending entry of refugees to the United States for 120 days, barring Syrian refugees indefinitely, and blocking entry into the United States for 90 days for citizens of mostly Muslim countries, including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
People carried signs reading: "We Are All Immigrants," "Let Them In," and "Refugees Welcome."
Never seen anything like these protests at JFK. pic.twitter.com/R4xIKTq9u8
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) January 28, 2017
The New York Taxi Drivers Alliance, composed of 19,000 members, said it would not make any pickups from the airport, as drivers wanted to "stand in solidarity" with those protesting.
NO PICKUPS @ JFK Airport 6 PM to 7 PM today. Drivers stand in solidarity with thousands protesting inhumane & unconstitutional #MuslimBan.
— NY Taxi Workers (@NYTWA) January 28, 2017
Lawyers and advocates working at the airport said they didn't have a hard count on the number of people taken into custody after getting off their flights, but Congressman Jerry Nadler, D-New York, said 12 people were detained.
Hameed Khalid Darweesh, an Iraqi who was detained overnight, worked as an interpreter for the U.S. Army when it invaded Iraq in 2003. Later he was a contract engineer for the U.S.
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He was granted permission to relocate to the U.S., but was detained along with another traveler from Iraq after arriving at John F. Kennedy Airport Friday night.
Lawyers petitioned a federal court early Saturday to let them go. Two Democratic U.S. Representatives, Nydia Velazquez and Jerrold Nalder, were at the airport trying to get 11 other detainees released.
"They treat me as though I break the rules or did something wrong," CBS News reports Darweesh said after he was released. "I was surprised."
Yosre Ghaled was among about a dozen distraught people waiting at a terminal Saturday to see if loved ones would be released or deported.
She says her mother-in-law's sister had been detained.
The 67-year-old Yemeni citizen had flown to the U.S. to live with family because she is sick from heart problems and diabetes.
Two members of congress joined hundreds of protesters at the airport, demonstrating against the detentions.
Despite criticisms, President Trump said Saturday his crackdown on refugees and citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries "is not a Muslim ban."
(TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
