WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — More than 100,000 people from seven Muslim-majority nations have had their U.S. visas taken away under President Trump’s travel ban, a government lawyer revealed Friday.
That figure emerged during a hearing in Virginia federal court related to a lawsuit filed in court for two Yemeni brothers.
The siblings were put on a flight to Ethiopia after arriving at Dulles International Airport in Dallas last Saturday. The government lawyer couldn’t say how many visa holders were sent back to their home countries from Dulles after Trump signed the executive orders on the travel ban on Jan. 27.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that Virginia could join a lawsuit challenging Trump’s ban on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. “This order touched something in the U.S. that I’ve never seen before,” said Brinkema, who presided over the case of Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.
“People are quite upset.”
The White House contends the moves are necessary for national security. Democratic attorneys generals in several states have called them unconstitutional. Meanwhile in a separate case, a federal judge in Detroit ruled that US green card holders should not be affected by Trump’s travel ban following a suit by the Arab-American Civil Rights League. The nonprofit argued in U.S. district court that the president’s executive action is unconstitutional and targets immigrant communities.
Justice department lawyers across the U.S. were on Friday defending Trump’s order temporarily banning citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations from entering the country, a directive some attorneys general say is unconstitutional.
