Fear, Uncertainty and Small Acts of Rebellion at Dulles

Ali worked for three years as an interpreter for the US Army and gained admittance to the US through a Special Immigrant Visa, reserved for Iraqi and Afghan nationals who face threats of violence for working for Americans during the conflicts there.

He now has a green card, and returned to Iraq for his father’s funeral, only to be delayed for hours for questioning at Dulles.

“We are not terrorists. We are not bad people,” said Ali. “It’s so hard. I hope they will change their minds on this position.”

The court case was brought early on Saturday on behalf of two Iraqi men detained at JFK Airport in New York. One worked for the US military in Iraq, while the other is married to a former US military contract employee.

Both have now been released. Another court hearing is set for February.

Lee Gelernt, deputy legal director of the Immigrants Rights Project, who argued the case in court said that some people had been threatened with being “put back on a plane” later on Saturday.

Mr Gelernt also said the judge had ordered the government to provide a list of names of those detained under the order.

Judges elsewhere in the US have also ruled on the issue:

In Boston, a judge decided two Iranian nationals, professors at the University of Massachusetts, should be released from detention at Logan International Airport

An order issued in Virginia banned, for seven days, the deportation of green card holders held at Dulles Airport and ordered the authorities to allow access to lawyers

A Seattle judge issued an emergency stay of removal from the US for two people

Criticism of Mr Trump’s decision has been growing louder outside the US.

Iran and Iraq are threatening a reciprocal ban on US citizens entering the country.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said “even the necessary, determined fight against terrorism does not justify placing people of a certain origin or belief under general suspicion”.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that his government remained committed to welcoming “those fleeing persecution, terror and war”.

A spokesperson for UK PM Theresa May said she “did not agree” with the restrictions, and French independent presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron tweeted: “I stand with the people fleeing war and persecution”.