Arab States Welcome Temporary Reversal of US Visa Ban

Arab states welcomed the US appeals court ruling against a travel ban imposed by President Donald Trump.

“It is a move in the right direction to solve the problems that it caused,” Iraqi government spokesman, Saad al-Hadithi, said.

Arab airlines including Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways said on Saturday they will allow passengers barred by President Donald Trump’s executive order to board US-bound flights after a federal judge blocked the move. US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) has advised them they can board travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries and all refugees who had been banned under the order, the airlines said in a statement.

Immigration lawyers are urging travelers from the seven countries – Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Libya and Sudan – to travel as quickly as possible as the travel ban could be put back anytime.

“I’ve told people and I posted on Facebook that anyone with a valid non-immigrant visa or anyone who is a first time entrant as an immigrant or a refugee should come to the US as soon as possible,” Kalman Resnick, an immigration lawyer in Chicago told The Media Line. “The temporary restraining order by the district court judge is being appealed so there will likely be a decision soon.”

Resnick was one of the thousands of lawyers who has tried to help the tens of thousands of people affected by President Trump’s Executive order. He says the President’s order is a contradiction of American values.

“Our values include an openness to immigration, an openness to refugees and the sense that immigration enriches our country,” Resnick said. “The order was sloppily written, hastily issued and poorly implemented.”

Defenders of the Executive Order, including the President, said they are simply trying to tighten border control to make the US safer from terrorism. The President said he was confident the district court ruling would be overturned.

“We’ll win,” Trump told reporters. “For the safety of the country, we’ll win.”

Some Arab governments, especially in the Gulf, had refrained from commenting on the Executive Order, leading the President to note that they agreed with him.

“Interesting that certain Middle-Eastern countries agree with the ban. They know if certain people are allowed in it’s death & destruction!” Trump tweeted. “When a country is no longer able to say who can, and who cannot, come in & out, especially for reasons of safety & security – big trouble!”