On Jan. 27, 2017, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on immigration. Under the order, Syrian refugees are not allowed to enter the United States; all refugees are barred from entering the United States for 120 days; and citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen are not allowed to enter the United States for 90 days, as reported by The New York Times.
Following the order, protests popped up in airports across the country, as green card-holding permanent U.S. residents from the above seven countries; visa-holding persons; and refugees were detained upon landing in the United States.
One such detained person was Suha Abushamma, MD, an internal medicine resident at Cleveland Clinic, ProPublica reported. She has an H-1B visa for "specialty occupations" workers.
Dr. Abushamma was born and raised in Saudi Arabia, but holds a Sudanese passport. On Jan. 23, 2017, Dr. Abushamma flew oversees to visit family in Saudi Arabia and travel to Sudan. Notified of potential U.S. immigration bans, she changed her plans in hopes of beating President Trump's order.
But when she hit ground in New York on Jan. 28, 2017, she discovered she could either voluntarily leave the United States and withdraw her visa, or be forcibly removed from the country. If forcibly deported, Dr. Abushamma would not be able to re-enter the United States for five years.
She told ProPublica her request for a delay was denied. So, she boarded a return flight to Saudi Arabia. After her flight to Saudi Arabia took off, District Court Judge Ann M. Donnelly "put a stay on deporting people who had landed in the U.S. and were covered by the executive order," according to ProPublica.
Since Dr. Abushamma voluntarily canceled her visa, she won't be able to obtain a new one for at least 90 days.
On Jan. 29, 2017, Cleveland Clinic released a statement addressing the immigration order: "We deeply care about all of our employees and are fully committed to the safe return of those who have been affected by this action."