function onPlayerReadyVidible(e){'undefined'!=typeof HPTrack&&HPTrack.Vid.Vidible_track(e)}!function(e,i){if(e.vdb_Player){if('object'==typeof commercial_video){var a='',o='m.fwsitesection='+commercial_video.site_and_category;if(a+=o,commercial_video['package']){var c='&m.fwkeyvalues=sponsorship%3D'+commercial_video['package'];a+=c}e.setAttribute('vdb_params',a)}i(e.vdb_Player)}else{var t=arguments.callee;setTimeout(function(){t(e,i)},0)}}(document.getElementById('vidible_1'),onPlayerReadyVidible); NEW YORK ' Iraqi and Afghan refugees who devoted years of their lives to helping the U.S. war efforts were detained Friday night at U.S. airports due to President Donald Trumps executive order targeting Muslims and refugees attempting to enter the country.Two Iraqis were detained late Fridayat New Yorks John F. Kennedy International Airport.One of the men, Hameed Khalid Darweesh,had worked for the U.S. government for 10 years, including as an interpreter.He was stopped upon landing at JFK Airport on Friday night, although his wife and children were let through, Brandon Friedman, a former colleague of Darweeshs, told The Huffington Post.Darweesh has since been released:Pleased to announce w/@NydiaVelazquez the release of Hameed Jhalid Darweesh from detention at JFK. pic.twitter.com/AeKDhIPp7k (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) January 28, 2017 He had been detained around 6 p.m. on Friday, Darweesh said in a press conference at JFK following his release on Saturday. He was placed in several rooms and questioned for many hours.Protesters had gathered at JFKs Terminal 4 in support of the detainees on Saturday morning. But despite his ill treatment at U.S. government hands, Darweesh offered praise at the news conference. America is the greatest country in the world, he said.Iraqi interpreter released, excited to be with his family. He still loves America. pic.twitter.com/ZpeQ933d9d Sebastian Murdock (@SebastianMurdoc) January 28, 2017 The second man, Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi, is a refugee who was rejoining his wife and child in America. His wife, who had worked for a U.S. government contractor, had come to this country a few years earlier,The Washington Post reported.Weve been at JFK all night and none of us have been able to speak with our clients. As far as we know, they are still detained, and we have been unable to actually meet with them in person, Mark Doss, an attorney with the International Refugee Assistance Project who is representing Darweesh and Alshawi, told CNN on Saturday before Darweeshs release. To be unlawfully detained here at the airport is really just disgraceful.The International Refugee Assistance Project is working to obtain their release, he added. Were fighting very hard to make sure theyre not deported to their countries where they can be killed.An Afghan interpreterwas detained at San Francisco International Airport on Friday while his wife and children were allowed through, said Matt Zeller, founder of No One Left Behind, a nonprofit that helps Afghan and Iraqi combat interpreters with special immigrant visas resettle safely in the United States.Zeller suggested that the men who were stopped were likely placed in immigration detention, which consists of being placed in county lockup, taken to the county jail, processed as an inmate and likely issued an orange jumpsuit and then placed into a cell along with general population.Lawyers for the two men detained in New York told CNN that they hadfiled a lawsuit against the president and the U.S. government over their clients detention. The action in federal court seeks a writ of habeas corpus, requiring the government to show the detentions are legal, and the certification of a class action covering any immigrants and refugees denied admission at ports of entry across the country, according to The New York Times.U.S. veterans of the Iraq War criticized their governments actions on Saturday as well.The idea that we could be detaining Iraqi interpreters who put their lives on the line to help troops like myself in Iraq is disgraceful, said Jon Soltz, a vet and the chairman of VoteVets, in a statement. Not only does this not do anything to protect America, but it now sends the message that even if you put your life on the line to help America, if you are Muslim we dont want you here.The executive order, which Trump signed Friday afternoon, bans Syrian refugee resettlement in the U.S. indefinitely, shuts down the entire refugee program for 120 days, and bars all immigrants and visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the country for at least 90 days. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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