Up to 100 people were reported to have been detained at Los Angeles International Airport as an effect of President Donald Trump’s order barring visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries, according to volunteers for the American Civil Liberties Union.
Of the travelers detained, several were coming from countries that were not on the list, including a Mexican man who is a legal resident, said California for Progress’ Rachel Carlson who was facilitating information for the ACLU.
Carlson said the Mexican man was separated from his family and was held at 5:30 p.m. Monday. The man had not been released as of 11 p.m., she said. There was no update on the number of people still being detained early Tuesday.
It’s been especially difficult for volunteer lawyers attempting to assist detainees because Carlson said they’re being kept in the dark regarding why their being held.
“He has legal residency,” Carlson said of the Mexican man.
Trump’s executive order bans indefinitely all refugees from Syria entering the United States and blocking all refugee admissions for 120 days,
Despite the order also stopping all refugee and non-refugee entries from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Syria for 90 days, Carlson said volunteers are not understanding why people from countries that are not on that list are being detained.
“There’s no information coming through on why they’re detained or what’s going to happen to them,” she said.
A call made to U.S. Customs and Border Protection was not immediately returned Monday night.
Carlson said the only time families and lawyers receive information is when detainees are released. Other than that, there’s much confusion.
“They’re having a very hard time,” she said. “They’re not getting information until someone is released from detention.”
Others who were detained included green card holders and people from Jordan, Vietnam and India, according to Meena Nanji representing the ACLU.
As of 9:30 p.m., there was a confirmed group of 25 still in detention, according to an ACLU lawyer on the ground.
—City News Service