Feds detain Katy High School student from Jordan following President Trump's immigration ban
A 16-year-old Jordanian visa holder, who attends Katy High School west of Houston, has been detained by U.S. immigration officials for more than three days following President Trump's controversial immigration executive order, according to his brother and an attorney representing the family.
Mohammad Abu Khadra, who lives in Katy with his brother Rami, traveled to Jordan last week to renew his visa. When he flew into Bush IAH airport Saturday, officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained him at the airport for about 48 hours. He was transferred to an Office of Refugee Resettlement shelter in Chicago Monday, where he remained as of Tuesday afternoon. The teen has no access to his cell phone or to a computer, his brother said.
Mohammad is among dozens of visa holders and immigrants to be detained at U.S. airports since Trump signed an executive order Friday indefinitely barring all Syrian refugees from entering the United States and suspending all refugee admissions for 120 days. It also prohibits citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for 90 days, whether they are refugees or not. Those countries include Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Mohammad's native Jordan is not on the list, and Mohammad is not a refugee.
The ACLU of Texas said it was the only case its knows of where a minor has been detained for more than 24 hours since the executive order was signed.
Mohammad and Rami's attorney, Ali Zakaria, said he is filing a family reunification document with the shelter so the Office of Refugee Resettlement can release him to his brother's custody in Texas. He said he has not yet heard back from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about why Mohammad was detained or how long his detention could last.
Zakaria estimated Mohammad could be in custody anywhere from two weeks to two months. He did not know Mohammad's visa status or which type of visa Mohammad tried to renew in Jordan.
"Obviously Mohammad's case is extraordinary," Zakaria said. "For a kid to be detained at an airport for 48 hours is unconscionable."
Rami, a 37-year-old green card holder who has been in the United States for five years, said he feels helpless.
"My country is not one of seven countries on the list," Rami said. "It's like because he's from the Middle East, he gets detained."
Rami said he hopes to hear from Mohammad Tuesday, but that his little brother is only allowed to call once a week for 30 minutes.
Katy ISD would not comment on the situation, citing federal student privacy laws that prevent them from sharing information about individual students.
Mohammad is not the only minor to be detained by immigration authorities at airports since the order was signed, but his detention appears to be among the longest yet.
A 5-year-old was allegedly separated from his Iranian mother and detained at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, D.C., for more than four hours Saturday before the two were reunited. A Somali woman and her two young children were detained at the same airport for 18 hours due to the executive order.
Rami said he was able to visit Mohammad briefly at Bush IAH airport Sunday after he was peppered with questions from immigration officials curious about his relationships and his allegiances. He said his brother was exhausted after a 16-hour flight from Jordan and spending the night sleeping in an airport chair.
"He was very afraid," Rami said. "Before I saw him, he was on a flight for 15 or 16 hours, then was at the airport for 72 hours. He was very tired and frustrated. When he took the flight to Chicago, he called me, but he doesn't know anything. He doesn't know what's going on."
Zakaria said he spent the weekend volunteering with the ACLU and working with other immigrants, visa holders, citizens and refugees at IAH airport. He said after that work and speaking with colleagues across the country, he's convinced immigration officials are not just barring or delaying citizens from the seven countries listed on Trump's executive order.
"It's a lot of Muslims from other countries, too," Zakaria said. "I think Mohammad is a prime example. Jordan is not on the list, but he's still enduring this treatment. People say it's not a Muslim ban, but they need to look at the facts on the ground and not the spin coming from the White House."
Rami said his parents, who still live in Jordan, are inconsolable over their son's detention. He wished the U.S. government would just send Mohammad back to Jordan rather than have him languish in a bureaucratic limbo.
"I'm trying to fly out to Chicago, trying to reach out people. I just want to see him," Rami said. "I'm trying very hard to just see him or hear from him or anything. I need to see if he needs money or anything."
Zakaria said keeping Mohammad in detention does nothing to keep Americans safe.
"It's OK to enforce the law, it's OK to be vigilant for terrorism, but stopping a kid at an airport for days does not accomplish that objective," Zakari said.
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Feds-detain-Katy-High-School-student-from-Jordan-10897205.php |
