By Bill Parry
A semblance of normalcy returned to Terminal 4 at JFK International Airport Monday morning where 41 travelers were detained over the weekend following President Donald Trump’s executive order barring entry to refugees and visa holders from seven majority-Muslim countries. The only signs that more than 1,000 protesters rallied outside the terminal over the weekend were some anti-Trump graffiti and stickers on the sidewalk saying “We Are all Muslim,” while a group of volunteer attorneys continued their advocacy work inside.
“Forty-one have been released, two were deported and there is one who still may be in custody but we’re not sure because there is no communication with the government,” New York Immigration Coalition Director of Legal Initiatives Camille Mackler said. “Our numbers are based on our lawyers at each of the terminals and their dealings with the families of the detainees. We’re still looking at flights from the Middle East and Europe to see if there are anymore. We’ll be here for the foreseeable future.”
Mackler, an attorney from Brooklyn, became the coordinator of dozens of lawyers who flocked to the terminal over the weekend to volunteer their services to the detained from a makeshift compound outside the Central Diner filled with laptop computers, fax machines and plenty of used coffee cups. Queens native Roman Zelichenko, who did not want to disclose his neighborhood for “fear of being stalked,” joined with the group of legal, technology, digital media and other volunteers in the “lawyer’s war room” Sunday after following a law school colleague’s posts on social media.
“The volunteers keep coming in even after all the initially detained have been processed,” Zelichenko said. ““We’ve created an infrastructure here so if something happens again on short notice, we’ll know what to do.”
The group of detained individuals at JFK included 15 Iranian nationals, five Iraqi nationals, one Libyan national, one Saudi Arabian national, one Senegalese national, three Sudanese nationals, three Syrian nationals, eight Yemeni nationals, and another ten were undetermined, Mackler said.
While there was some clarity to the situation, she said some questions continue to linger.
“A lot of people fly into JFK to make connecting flights all around the country,” she said. “We don’t know how many were simply turned away and we’re taking calls from attorneys in Chicago and elsewhere.
As for the one flier still believed to be in custody.
“If he is still in custody, we’ll rely on some of the elected officials to gain his release,” Mackler said. “We believe he is still here but he may have left yesterday. We are still in contact with his family.”
She said the legal team continued to write writs of habeas corpus on behalf of the detainees while the American Civil Liberties Union has taken broader legal action.
“The work that was done here over the past few days and continues to go on has been incredibly impactful,” Mackler said. “On an individual level, volunteer attorneys, translators, and others have helped unite families with their arriving loved ones. At a higher level, the group has brought awareness to the consequences of President Trump’s executive order through continued advocacy and social media outreach.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
