CLEVELAND, Ohio – A Sudanese Cleveland Clinic doctor is still not able to return to the U.S., even though a federal appeals court has continued a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration’s travel ban.
Dr. Suha AbushammaSubmitted
Dr. Suha Abushamma, a 26-year-old internal medicine resident at the Clinic, was detained for hours in New York City on Jan. 28 after returning to the U.S. from a vacation to Saudi Arabia. She was put back onto a plane flying to the Middle East, in accordance with President Donald Trump’s executive order banning travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries and all refugees.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge James Robart blocked Trump’s executive order nationwide, and a federal appeals court denied the Justice Department’s request Sunday to immediately reinstate the ban.
The restraining order against the ban will assist individuals from those Muslim-majority countries – Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen – who had their visas canceled. However, Abushamma’s work visa was withdrawn, not canceled, when she signed forms given to her by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents while she was detained in New York City.
Abushamma, 26, of Cleveland Heights, filed a lawsuit Tuesday stating that she was “misled and coerced” into signing the forms. The doctor also claimed that immigration officials violated a stay issued by a New York federal judge that said anyone with a green card or a valid work visa must be admitted into the country.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon ordered the government to provide proof as to why Abushamma should not have her visa reinstated. The government has until Tuesday to do so.
Amon will hold a hearing on Feb. 15 on whether Abushamma will be allowed to return to the U.S. Abushamma said in a court filling Thursday that her career would be irreparably damaged if she is not allowed to return to the Clinic.
An attorney representing Abushamma could be reached for comment Sunday afternoon. Cleveland Clinic spokeswoman Eileen Sheil said Sunday afternoon that she did not have any updates to provide on Abushamma’s case.
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