Confusion reigns over order on immigration

Lack of information from Homeland Security, State adds to public angst

Forty- eight hours after President Trump sparked a worldwide panic by signing an executive order temporarily banning immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries, immigrants, travelers and lawyers remained confused on Sunday about how the order is being implemented.

Attorneys for civil rights and immigration advocacy groups say Customs and Border Protection continues to interpret Trump’s orders in different ways. At some international airports, including Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas, all people who were detained by CBP have been released. At others, including San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York’s JFK International Airport, they say people remained in custody on Sunday.

Three federal courts have issued rulings to protect people caught in that legal limbo, but the Department of Homeland Security has yet to follow through on a New York judge’s order to release a list of all people still being detained. The result?

“Mass confusion,” said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project who argued the case in New York. “The government took no steps to make sure that people understood what the order means and how it should be implemented. ( Trump) just threw it out there without ensuring that it would be implemented fairly and even- handed and properly.”

The White House and Homeland Security have countered that they provided new guidelines to its agents working at airports and that only a small fraction of travelers were affected by the order. On Saturday, when asked about the roll- out of his executive order, President Trump said “it’s working out very nicely.” And several White House officials appeared on Sunday talk shows to say that civil rights groups were blowing the confusion out of proportion.

So where do things really stand?

A ruling issued late Saturday by U. S. District Judge Ann Donnelly in New York barred Customs and Border Protection officials across the country from deporting any immigrants, including refugees and legal immigrants from the seven predominantly Muslim countries targeted in Trump’s order, so long as they hold a valid visa. That order dealt only with immigrants who had already arrived in the U. S. or already were in transit.

Homeland Security said it would comply with that order, but made clear it would continue carrying out Trump’s executive order, meaning they will try to stop any other refugees or legal immigrants from the seven countries listed in the president’s order from heading to the U. S.

Lawyers soon will begin arguing the overall legality of Trump’s executive order, a possibly weekslong process that will ultimately determine whether the order is allowed to stand. But much still remains unclear. Part of the problem has been the lack of information coming from the departments of Homeland Security and State.

The first mention of the new guidelines to appear online came from an Arabic- language Twitter account run by the State Department. It sent out three tweets on Saturday instructing citizens from the seven countries listed in Trump’s order not to travel to the U. S., pay any visa fees or show up for visa interviews. The tweets did not mention, however, that green- card holders from those countries are still allowed to enter the U. S.

Homeland Security says it provided new guidance to all of its port officials immediately after Trump signed his order on Friday and updated its computerized targeting system to identify those people. But the department did not start providing guidance to travelers until Sunday.

Homeland Security’s first tweet came early Sunday, which linked to the department’s statement declaring that it would carry out Trump’s order and that “prohibited travel will remain prohibited.” There was no guidance on which travelers should stay home and no clarification of how the order affected greencard holders.

The websites of both agencies made no mention of the new order as of Sunday evening.

Homeland Security also has not complied with an order from Donnelly instructing the department to share a list of people who are still detained inside U. S. airports. Gelernt said they have not received that list and may return to court late Sunday.

The first mention of the new guidelines online came from an Arabic- language Twitter account run by the State Department.

JIM LO SCALZO, EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY Thousands gather Sunday in front of the White House to protest President Trump’s immigration ban affecting seven majority- Muslim countries.