Today: A Recap

Today, like the rest of this week, has been so exhausting and emotionally draining that I have had zero desire to summon the energy for posting. But clearly, a brief recap is in order.

• We woke up to learn that migrants were being detained at ports of entry, including JFK, as a result of the Executive Order issued by President Trump’s yesterday – which suspended immigration from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, Sudan, and Somalia and halted the admission of refugees. Among those detained? A man who served as an interpreter for U.S. armed forces.

• Before noon, we learned that immprof Mike Wishnie spearheaded a legal team that filed a habeas petition on behalf of two detained individuals, and sought a class action on behalf of all similarly situated individuals. The brief argued that such individuals are entitled to seek asylum, withholding, and CAT protection, that the Executive Order violates the Equal Protection clause of the U.S. constitution as well as the APA.

• The detained translator was released from custody and admitted to the US. Despite spending 18 hours in custody, he remarked: “America is the land of freedom, the land of the life.” 

• Lawyers and protestors flocked to airports to offer aid to refugees and migrants who boarded flights to the U.S. before the signing of the Executive Order.

• This evening, a federal judge issued a temporary stay, writing “The petitioners have a strong likelihood of success in establishing that the removal of the petitioner and others similarly situated violates their rights to Due Process and Equal Protection guaranteed by the United States Constitution.”

What will tomorrow bring?

-KitJ