Refugees, U.S. Gov. Contractors and Spouses Detained at U.S. Airports, as Trump Immigration Order Is Challenged

The detentions prompted legal challenges as lawyers representing two Iraqis held at Kennedy Airport filed a writ of habeas corpus early Saturday in the Eastern District of New York seeking to have their clients released. At the same time, they filed a motion for class certification, in an effort to represent all refugees and immigrants who they said were being unlawfully detained at ports of entry.

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The lawyers said they had not been allowed to meet with their clients, and there were tense moments as they tried to reach them. "Who is the person we need to talk to?" asked one of the lawyers, Mark Doss, a supervising attorney at the International Refugee Assistance Project. "Mr. President," said a Customs and Border Protection agent, who declined to identify himself. "Call Mr. Trump."

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"This not only endangers troops in the future, it endangers troops who are in combat now in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, wherever, "Mr. Friedman said. "If those interpreters and those fixers hear that the United States is not going to protect them, then they don't have any incentive to work with U.S. troops, and there's no way that we can operate without their support and assistance."