Donald Trump

Lawsuit Over Trump's 1st Attempt to Ban Travel Is Settled

People have three months to reapply for visas with federal help

Foreigners who were barred from entering the U.S. during President Donald Trump's first attempt to ban travel from seven Muslim-majority nations will get government help reapplying for visas.

Civil rights lawyers and the Trump administration told a federal magistrate judge in New York on Thursday that they had settled a lawsuit over the treatment of hundreds of travelers who were detained at U.S. airports in the hours between Trump's issuance of the ban on Jan. 27 and a federal judge's issuance of a temporary block on Jan. 28.

Under the terms of the deal, the government has agreed to notify anyone overseas who was banned that they have three months to reapply for visas with the help of a Department of Justice liaison.

"Although this case has been moot since March, when the president rescinded the original executive order and issued a new one that does not restrict the entry of Iraqi nationals, the U.S. government has elected to settle this case on favorable terms," the Justice Department said in a statement.

The suit was filed by Iraqi refugees Hameed Khalid Darweesh and Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshaw, represented by several civil rights groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, NBC News reported. Darweesh worked as an interpreter on behalf of the U.S. government for 10 years and had a special Iraqi immigrant visa to move to the U.S. Alshaw's wife and child were already lawful permanent U.S. residents.

"I'm glad that the lawsuit is over," Darweesh said in a statement issued through the ACLU. "Me and my family are safe; my kids go to school; we can now live a normal life. I suffered back home, but I have my rights now. I'm a human."

The plaintiffs said they would drop all their claims, agreeing not to seek attorney's fees and other costs.

Several courts ordered the initial ban lifted. The revised version has replaced it under limitations set by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in October on a challenge to the second order.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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