New York // Airlines began accepting US-bound passengers from seven mainly Muslim countries on Saturday after a court lifted a travel ban placed on their citizens by Donald Trump.
But the US president quickly promised to challenge the court ruling, leaving immigration lawyers preparing for fresh battles and confused travellers wondering whether they should risk booking flights.
The state department said all revoked visas were now valid for travel following the court order overturning Mr Trump’s ban.
Volunteer lawyers at New York’s JFK airport said they were scrambling to unravel the implications of the latest twist following the president’s executive order on January 27 to bar entry to all travellers from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Libya.
Renee Paradis, one of the organisers of the effort, said they were still trying to verify what the legal ruling meant for passengers who had been deported. Different airlines were also sending different messages about who they would accept for travel, she added.
“But we are now pretty convinced these people are going to be able to get through,” she said.
The arrivals hall in terminal four remained quiet despite the arrival of flights from Abu Dhabi and Dubai, a sign that many travellers were waiting for more reassurance.
Etihad Airways and Emirates Airline both said on Saturday that, acting on advice from the US Customs and Border Protection agency, they would begin accepting all passengers with valid documents for travel to the US.
“Acceptance will naturally be subject to checks completed by US authorities as existed prior to the issuance of the executive order on 27 January,” an Etihad spokesman told Reuters.
US border officials stationed in Abu Dhabi carry out passport and customs screenings before passengers board US-bound flights under an existing pre-screening programme.
Qatar Airways and Royal Jordanian also said they were again accepting all passengers with valid US travel documents.
US airlines have been informed that Customs and Border Protection, part of the Department of Homeland Security, is immediately reverting to the operating procedures from before the executive order, Vaughn Jennings, a spokesman for the trade group Airlines for America, said.
The latest setback to Mr Trump’s attempt to temporarily halt all arrivals from the seven countries was delivered by a judge in Seattle on Friday night.
Several US courts have rolled back aspects of the suspensions – allowing in green card holders or Iraqis who had worked for the American military, for example – but the ruling in Seattle is the first to suspend the entire executive order, although temporarily.
US district judge James Robart said he was granting a restraining order because the plaintiffs were likely to eventually win their claim that Mr Trump’s order was unconstitutional.
The debacle has prompted a series of protests at Mr Trump’s presidency, beginning when he signed the executive order eight days ago. It has raised awkward questions about whether his politically inexperienced team understands the limits of its power and the legal challenges it faces.
Mr Trump reacted to the judgment with a personal attack on Mr Robart.
“The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!” he tweeted.
The legal wrangling has left people from the affected countries confused about whether or not to risk making travel plans.
One young Syrian man, who asked not to be named, described the uncertainty as he waited for a relative to arrive on the first flight of the day to terminal four from Abu Dhabi.
His brother-in-law had a green card but had delayed his return to the US until Saturday, when he was certain he would be permitted entry. On the other hand his father-in-law, who had a family visa issued just five days before the ban was imposed, was stuck in Homs waiting for assurances that he would not be turned around and deported – an expensive waste of an airline ticket and a visa.
He said people were nervous about risking travel on the basis of the latest ruling.
“If they leave today they are not getting here until Monday and everything could change again before then,” he said.
He flicked through an email on his phone from the US embassy in Jordan as he waited.
“The provisional revocation of visas provisionally affected by the order has been lifted and those visas are now valid for travel,” it said, before adding that the situation was “fluid” and that future court decisions “may further change” how the executive order was implemented.
Beside him a volunteer held a placard reading: “Are you in need of legal help? Have you seen anyone be detained?”
Lawyers who have been helping travellers navigate the chaos said they were still trying to get information from border officials and airline staff about how travellers would be treated and whether passengers deported with a note in their passport would be readmitted with the same documents.
The state department had earlier said 60,000 people had had their visas revoked.
Campaign groups welcomed the ruling and urged visa holders to book flights immediately.
Becca Heller, director of the International Refugee Assistance Project, said: “We encourage all US visa holders who have been affected by the order to travel to the United States as soon as possible, while the stay is in place.”
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
* With reporting from Reuters and Bloomberg