Detroit judge halts part of immigration ban

(WJBK) - A Detroit federal judge has ordered a halt to part of President Trump's immigration ban as a result of efforts from the Arab American Civil Rights League.

"This order is the first of its kind in the nation. It basically says that that all legal permanent residents AKA green card holders must be allowed to return to the United States from anywhere around the world," said Nabih Ayad of the AACRL.

Ayad is one of the attorneys who filed an injunction in federal court following Trump's signing of an executive order largely banning entry to the U.S. by citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries.

"Initially the executive order attempted to address green card holders possibly even U.S. citizens who have dual citizenship from those seven nations," he said.

However, this court order ruled by Judge Victoria Roberts here at the federal courthouse in Detroit protects all U.S. citizens and green card holders from the traveling restrictions signed under the executive order.

The Trump administration has begun to back off a bit in the past few days, but Ayad says this matter has caused a trust issue in a short time, and this federal court order is permanent.

Yemen is one of the Muslim-majority countries included in the executive order.

Samir Almasmari is a lawful resident of the U.S. who had been traveling back from Yemen on Sunday, but was denied boarding his flight in Egypt and returned back to Yemen.

He will be able to return to the U.S. after this federal ruling, but the past week caused his family hurt and frustration.

Fox 2 spoke to his father on the phone.

"I was mad. His mother, she was crying," Muhammad Almasmari said.

Ayad says at the end of the day, this is a people issue.

"This is a humanitarian issue ... It's families that are impacted by this. The families are concerned. Everybody's been scared. Trump has been in office less than two weeks, and it's causing chaos around these individuals," he said.

Ayad recommends anyone/green card holder flying to the seven countries under the traveling restrictions have a copy of the federal court order with them at all times in case they are stopped from coming back to the United States.

Fox 2 put in a call to the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C., but have not heard back.