Henderson couple faced airport ordeal following president’s executive order

(ACLU of Southern Nevada)

To Las Vegas Valley resident Bita Nasri, the last few days have been a blur of worry, confusion, relief and exhaustion.

Nasri’s in-laws, 86-year-old Mohammad Hossein Nasri and 68-year-old Farania Moghimi, were just two of the legal American residents caught in the confusion over the weekend after an executive order by President Donald Trump barred refugees and immigrants from seven nations from entering the country.

The Henderson couple, who visited Iran for their son’s wedding and began their return trip Friday afternoon, traveled through Qatar to arrive in Chicago, where they were questioned for about an hour on their children and their reasons for traveling, Bita Nasri said.

They were offered no food during the overall nine hours they were held by authorities, just water and a restroom, Nasri said.

They also had no cellphone to notify their family of what was happening and no clue about when they would be able to come home.

“They were terrified,” Nasri said. “They had no idea what was going to happen.”

The husband and wife, both of whom have health issues, worked in education while living in Iran but retired to the United States to be closer to their grandchildren. They’ve been legal residents of the valley for five years and have been active in the development of the Nasri Academy for Gifted Children, which opened in September.

“There shouldn’t be the fear of not being able to come back to your home where you’ve lived for five years because you went to the wedding of your child, no matter what the country” of origin, Bita Nasri said Sunday, hours after her in-laws landed in Las Vegas about 8:30 a.m.

Trump’s executive order Friday barred entry to the United States for all refugees for 120 days. It also blocked Syrian refugees indefinitely and citizens of Syria, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Somalia from entering the United States for 90 days, even if those individuals are legal U.S. residents or green card holders.

Though an injunction from U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly in New York City was issued to prevent deportations, some travelers were still being held at airports Sunday, even as the Trump administration indicated it was softening its stance on barring green card holders.

The confusion over the order also ensnared a man whose Syrian parents and sister were coming to visit him in Las Vegas but were questioned for an hour before they took a flight in London.

His sister was prevented from boarding the British Airways flight, and his parents were held at McCarran for about three hours before they were allowed to leave, according to ACLU Nevada legal director Amy Rose.

Rose wasn’t able to immediately confirm the daughter’s status Sunday but said she will work to follow up with the family on what happened during their trip home.

She also said she hadn’t heard of any detentions or holds Sunday but added that the ACLU has been approached by some locals with contacts abroad who’d been planning to travel to the United States but have citizenship in the affected countries.

“We’re working with them trying to figure out their situation,” she said.

The ACLU will deploy legal observers during the week to aid anyone having issues at McCarran International Airport, but the process is made difficult by a lack of transparency from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which isn’t providing details on possible detentions, Rose said.

“It’s important that we’re here and that we’re vigilant and that we’re paying attention,” she said.

Trump’s executive order caused an outcry from Democrats who have argued the move is a precursor to a ban on all Muslim travel to the United States.

However, some Republicans have argued the order is a necessity for national security while demanding a revamping of the current vetting process for entry of refugees and immigrants.

Contact Pashtana Usufzy at pusufzy@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563. Follow @pashtana_u on Twitter.