Just In: Iranian student deported in chaos of Donald Trump’s Muslim ban

Demonstrators protest against President Trump's immigration ban at Chicago International Airport on January 28, 2017 (AFP Photo/Joshua LOTT)<br />

When Sara Yarjani handed her passport to an immigration officer at Los Angeles airport she was sure she’d be waved through customs, as had happened before. Instead, 23 hours later, she was deported.
The 35-year-old Iranian graduate student became one of the first victims of the chaos unleashed by President Donald Trump’s executive order blocking citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, from entering the United States.
Yarjani, who spoke with AFP by telephone late Monday from Vienna, where she is a permanent resident, said her ordeal began shortly after her plane landed Friday evening and — unbeknownst to her — Trump’s travel ban had kicked in.

“I had been on holiday in Canada to see my sister and then went to Austria and was coming back to resume classes,” said Yarjani, a student of holistic health at the California Institute for Human Science, located north of San Diego.
“I was not expecting to be stopped,” she said. “I had previously entered the country and was treated very well … and gone through customs within minutes.”
This time she quickly realized that it would be different, as the immigration officer took her passport and ushered her to a waiting area.
Two female officers who barked orders patted Yarjani down as she stood against a wall with her arms raised. She was told to remove her shawl, her jewelry and shoe laces, and was asked to hand over any cash as well as her cell phone — all of which were later returned.
Yarjani said after nearly four hours of waiting and questioning, during which she was allowed no phone calls, an officer compelled her to sign a form agreeing to deportation on grounds, he claimed, that her student visa was no longer valid.
– ‘Leave voluntarily or forcibly’ –
“The officer told me ‘you have two option– either you comply and agree to leave voluntarily … or you will forcibly be deported and face a ban of one to five years or longer of reentry to the US’,” she said.
“The way he was saying it was very threatening and I felt I had no choice.”
Yarjani said she became aware of the mayhem caused by Trump’s order when she was allowed, shortly after midnight, a quick call to her sister to let her know she was being deported.
“I arrived in LA at 8:35 pm Friday and left at 7:30 pm the next day,” she said.
Yarjani said as she was being escorted by two armed officers for her flight back to Europe, she was able to briefly check her phone and learned that a federal judge had temporarily blocked part of Trump’s executive order.
“I told one of the officers that a judge had ruled against the ban … and that I should not be put on the plane but all she said was ‘wowza’ while ordering me to keep walking,” Yarjani said.
She said now that she was back in Austria with her parents, she was still trying to come to terms with what had happened and considering her next move.
“It’s a very confusing feeling right now because on the one hand I feel thankful I am out of their custody but on the other hand, it’s really sad and heartbreaking because I really love what I am studying,” she said, her voice breaking.
“I have worked so hard for the past year and a half and it’s been such a long journey to get there and to study something I am really passionate about.”
She said university officials have been very supportive and concerned about her fate while attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have also offered assistance.
“Being stopped from entering the country to continue my studies does not make any sense,” said Yarjani, who was due to graduate this summer.
“I was treated as if I had done something drastically wrong … and I don’t think studying something that is aimed at helping people is a crime you should be deported for.”

Confusion and Protest 2 Days After Donald Trump’s ‘Muslim Immigration’ Order

The atmosphere of chaos and criticism that followed President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting on entry into the U.S. of people from seven Muslim-dominated countries continued on Sunday, as a series of planned protests sought to build on what became a national phenomenon overnight.

Protesters at airports across the country reacted with jubilation last night at the news that in response to a legal challenge issued by the ACLU a federal court in Brooklyn had granted an emergency stay on the president’s executive order that bans immigration from Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran and Libya.

Following the court’s decision, the Department of Homeland Security said in a press release that it “will continue to enforce all of the president’s Executive Orders in a manner that ensures the safety and security of the American people.”

The statement noted that Trump’s executive orders remain “in place,” despite the emergency stay.

“The president’s Executive Orders remain in place — prohibited travel will remain prohibited, and the U.S. government retains its right to revoke visas at any time if required for national security or public safety,” the release said.

The ACLU contended that the stay applied nationally to all cases, but that was not necessarily clear from the ruling, and an atmosphere of confusion still surrounds the orders, and how they will be applied going forward.

Today, the spontaneous protests that were sparked by news of travelers being detained were expected to continue in a more planned fashion at airports across the country.

Protests are scheduled today in New York, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Seattle, Chicago and other cities.

The protests started Saturday at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, where hundreds of people chanted “No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here,” angered at the detention of a number of people arriving from the countries listed in Trump’s order, including the two Iraqi men whose cases were taken by the ACLU.

As the day went on, the protests spread to other major airports like Washington Dulles International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport.

The two Iraqis who were detained at JFK were both released later in the day, drawing widespread media attention.

One of the men, Hameed Jhalid Darweesh, expressed his gratitude for those who supported him while he was detained.

“America is the land of freedom,” Darweesh said. “The land of freedom, the land of the rights. This is what brought me to come here, and I’m very thankful.”

Neither Darweesh nor the other Iraqi were technically refugees according to the definition in the president’s executive order at the time of their detention, but appear to have come to the U.S. on visas, a Trump administration official tells ABC News.

A senior Department of Homeland Security official said that 375 travelers were affected by the executive order Saturday at airports across the country.

Within that group, 109 people were in transit and then denied entry to the U.S., 173 were denied entry to the U.S. before boarding their flights in a foreign port, and 81 were granted waivers because of their legal permanent resident or special immigrant visa status.

The number of people being held at U.S. airports is expected to dwindle today, but passengers at airports across the world may be kept from boarding flights to the U.S.

Trump said the executive order was part of a vetting plan to prevent “radical Islamic terrorists” from reaching American soil.

The seven-page document calls for an immediate suspension of immigration from countries with ties to terror — Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran and Libya — for a time period of 90 days. But none of the countries on the list have had anything to do with terror incidents on U.S. soil since the 9/11 attacks, and Saudi Arabia — where 15 of the 9/11 hijackers were from — is not included.

It also calls for the complete suspension of Syrian refugees for an indefinite period. It also calls on the secretary of state to suspend the entire U.S program for admitting refugees for 120 days while authorities review the application and adjudication process.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said today on “This Week” that the seven countries had been identified by the Obama administration as needing further scrutiny, and said other countries could be added to the list at a later date.

Source: ABC NEWS

“What an immoral pig you have to implement such BS” – Rihanna Slams Trump Over Muslim Ban

Rihanna has slammed president Donald Trump for shutting U.S borders to seven Muslim nations saying “what an immoral pig you have to implement such BS”..

The pop star reacted with a tweet after Trump signed an executive order on Friday to shut borders to seven Muslim nations in his quest to weed out Islamic radicals from the U.S.