Federal authorities worked swiftly Wednesday to resolve two lawsuits filed by Chicago residents who claimed they were unlawfully stranded overseas due to President Donald Trump’s controversial executive order restricting travel from seven majority-Muslim countries.
One suit was filed by Dr. Amer Al Homssi, an internal medicine resident who traveled to the United Arab Emirates to be wed only to have his visas canceled on his attempt to return home. The other involved a Chicago businessman who went to his native Iran to care for his ailing mother but was told he could not purchase a return ticket because of the ban.
Both cases had been set for hearings Wednesday. But after hours of behind-the-scenes negotiating with an assistant U.S. attorney, customs officials and the State Department, the two ended with the same announcement — neither traveler should have been barred from re-entering the country based on the president’s executive order, and both would be coming home.
Doctor detained in UAE by Trump travel ban allowed to return to Chicago
Dr. Taylor Brinton, a senior resident at Advocate Christ Medical Center, discusses fellow resident Dr. Amer Al Homssi, who was detained after traveling to the United Arab Emirates to be wed. Dr. Homssi will now be allowed to return to the United States without hassle because he filed a lawsuit in which a judge declared the order unconstitutional. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Dr. Taylor Brinton, a senior resident at Advocate Christ Medical Center, discusses fellow resident Dr. Amer Al Homssi, who was detained after traveling to the United Arab Emirates to be wed. Dr. Homssi will now be allowed to return to the United States without hassle because he filed a lawsuit in which a judge declared the order unconstitutional. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
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"This was a tremendous victory for the rule of law," said attorney Thomas Anthony Durkin, who represented Al Homssi. "We are a country Gencobahis of laws, not men. I hope we don’t lose sight of that."
Standing behind Durkin as he spoke in the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse were more than two dozen of Al Homssi’s colleagues from Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, many of whom had packed into U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo’s standing-room-only courtroom in a show of support.
"This is a pretty serious issue – I mean he’s a doctor," Durkin said. "He has patients. It’s not like he was coming to ride the Staten Island ferry."
Al Homssi had been notified of the deal and was scheduled to fly back to Chicago from Abu Dhabi Thursday morning, Durkin said.
Two lawsuits in Chicago challenge Trump travel ban Jason Meisner
The first lawsuits in Chicago over President Donald Trump’s controversial executive order on immigration have been filed, including by a young doctor who traveled to the United Arab Emirates to be wed only to have his visa canceled on his attempt to return home.
Dr. Amer Al Homssi, 24, a resident…
The first lawsuits in Chicago over President Donald Trump’s controversial executive order on immigration have been filed, including by a young doctor who traveled to the United Arab Emirates to be wed only to have his visa canceled on his attempt to return home.
Dr. Amer Al Homssi, 24, a resident…
(Jason Meisner)
Earlier Wednesday, lawyers for the Iranian-born businessman, who filed under the pseudonym John Doe, negotiated a similar arrangement with U.S. officials. The man is an Iranian citizen and legal permanent resident of the U.S. who lives in Chicago with his wife and three children.
According to his lawsuit, the man had flown to Iran last month to care for his sick mother. He was planning to return to Chicago in time for the birth of his first grandchild, but when he tried to book a return flight Saturday, the ticketing agency "refused to issue a ticket for his travel to the United States due to the executive order," the suit said.
The man’s lawyer, Taher Kameli, said he agreed to withdraw his emergency request to stop enforcement of Trump’s executive order after government officials determined his client’s travel should not be restricted under the new policy.
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As a young girl growing up in Iran, Sarvin Haghighi used art to express herself in the 1980s, a violent and oppressive time in her country’s history.
When she came to the U.S. in 2013, after a stint in the United Arab Emirates, Haghighi embraced the new freedoms that were afforded to her, said…
As a young girl growing up in Iran, Sarvin Haghighi used art to express herself in the 1980s, a violent and oppressive time in her country’s history.
When she came to the U.S. in 2013, after a stint in the United Arab Emirates, Haghighi embraced the new freedoms that were afforded to her, said…
(Elyssa Cherney)
"The government was very cooperative, and they agreed that the executive order does not apply to permanent residents," Kameli told reporters.
Meanwhile, the underlying claims in that lawsuit alleging Trump’s executive order is unconstitutional will go forward before U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan.
The two cases came on the heels of a tumultuous weekend at O’Hare International Airport, where people traveling from seven majority-Muslim countries were detained for hours as customs agents struggled over how to interpret the president’s order.
After court, Al Homssi’s supervisor, Dr. Taylor Brinton, described his colleague as a "compassionate and smart" doctor who worked hard to get a chance to study and practice in the United States.
"I’m just so happy he will not have to give up his spot, to give up his dream," Brinton said.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @jmetr22b
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