Two Syrian Families Detained at Philadelphia International Airport, Then Put on Return Flight Home, Family Member Says
The two Christian families had secured visas and green cards months ago and were fleeing Damascus, a relative from Allentown, Pennsylvania, said.
Two Syrian families who arrived at Philadelphia International Airport Saturday morning from Doha, Qatar, were briefly detained and then sent back on a return 18-hour flight to the Middle East, according to a family member from Allentown, Pennsylvania.
The families, made of up two brothers, their wives and two children, were detained by Customs and Border Protection officials after disembarking a Qatar Airways flight at 7:25 a.m., according to Joseph Assali, of Allentown.
Three hours later, the six were put back on a Qatar Airways flight to Doha, Assali said.
"This is like a nightmare come true," he said, adding that they had visas and green cards legally obtained months ago.
"They're all Christian citizens and the executive order was supposed to protect Christians fleeing persecution," he said.
The families were detained and deported by an executive order signed Friday evening by President Donald Trump that immediately put restrictions on travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries and temporarily halted a refugee program for Syrian immigrants.
An immigration lawyer tried to obtain more information from federal officials at the airport, but Assali said it appeared too late. Officials would not discuss any details with Assali's family, who all live in the Allentown area.
"We're don't know what exactly is happening," he said before finding out they were back in the air headed to Syria. "We can't contact them."
He said the two families, who are in Damascus, hoped to use their time in America to obtain citizenship.
"They came as legal immigrants and were going to try sorting things out while they're here," Assali said.
Messages left for airport officials as well as Customs and Border Patrol and Homeland Security were not returned Saturday morning or early afternoon.
Trump said in signing the order that he pledged to "keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America."
Syria was the only country he named Friday, but the order suspended entry for 90 days from countries linked to a statute in the Visa Waiver Program. Besides Syria, those countries are: Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.
Two Iraqis were detained at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City earlier Saturday as well, but reports indicated that the two men were able to secure legal representation before Customs agents deported them. One of the men has been released.
Within hours, pro-immigrant demonstrations erupted at the airport.
An attorney with the ACLU of Pennsylvania told NBC10 that she was reaching out to the Assali family to get more details.
The attorney, Molly Tack-Hooper, said her organization would try to file a writ of habeas corpus on the detained family's behalf. The writ would require authorities to bring the detainees before a judge before deportation.
Upon learning that federal authorities may have already deported the families, she said she would still reach out to the Assali family in Allentown.
"It's fuzzy what we could do if they're already on a flight back to Qatar," she said.
Joseph Assali said his father held out hope that his two brothers and their families would try again soon.
"We're not sure what happens when they land again," he said.
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