People denied entry post Trump travel ban can reapply for visas

People, who were denied entry to the United States in spite of carrying valid visas under President Donald Trump's first travel ban, can now reapply for visas to enter the country.

Trump's first executive order, which halted all immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries, sparked a series of legal battles after some people carrying valid visas were denied entry and sent back to their home countries.

The first order was declared unconstitutional by a court less than 24 hours after being signed when two Iraqi nationals Hameed Khalid Darweesh and Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi, who had worked in the U.S. for over a decade, filed a lawsuit challenging it after they were detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

The Supreme Court in June allowed parts of Trump's second travel ban executive order to go into effect and will hear oral arguments on the case in October.

According to the settlement in the first travel ban case, all of those people who were denied entry but had proper documentation can now reapply for visas to enter the U.S.

"Although the government dragged its feet for far too long, it has finally agreed to do the right thing and provide those excluded under the first Muslim ban with proper notice of their right to come to the United States," said Lee Gelernt, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU's) deputy director for the Immigration Rights Project, CNN quoted a press release.

It has been reported that as many as 2000 people were detained immediately within 24-hour period when the first travel ban went into effect on January 27 and when it was temporarily blocked. About 140 people were denied entry to the U.S. and sent back to their home countries during that time, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said.

Trump on March 6 signed an executive order ordering new travel restrictions for residents of six Muslim-majority countries as well as a temporary ban on refugees from around the world. This directive comes after Trump's original executive order was rebuked in the federal courts.

The new ban, which was earlier to be implemented from March 16, halts travel for 90 days for residents of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The refugee suspension will last for 120 days.

-ANI