‘Everyone is on red alert’: Some Hawaii immigration lawyers see uptick in calls because of Trump travel ban

Some Hawaii immigration lawyers say they’ve been flooded with calls from concerned clients following President Donald Trump’s executive order banning refugees and immigrants from seven majority-Muslim countries.

“Our phone doesn’t stop ringing,” said Honolulu attorney Carmen DiAmore-Siah.

She said she doesn’t know anyone who was stopped from coming back into the country, but confusion created by the abrupt rollout of the restrictions Friday only helped exacerbate fears, including those of people from countries not on the list.

“They’re concerned about their own application and whether it puts a stop on everything,” DiAmore-Siah said.

The order — strongly opposed by immigrant rights groups — suspends America’s refugee program for four months, prohibits Syrian nationals from receiving visas, and for 90 days halts immigration from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

The order caused chaos at the nation’s airports, with numerous reports of travelers with valid visas and green cards being detained and hundreds of immigrants being turned away.

“We have the executive order, but we don’t have a lot of guidance,” said Honolulu attorney Maile Hirota.

She said the Hawaii chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association was preparing a joint statement with the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, Muslim Association of Hawaii and other organizations to strongly condemn the order.

“The concerns are the policies do little to improve national security and actually discriminate against people based on faith and national origin,” Hirota said.

Nazeehah Khan, a Muslim born in Hawaii, said Trump’s actions turned fear into anger.

“It’s upsetting to know that our efforts to try to bridge the gap between the American public and Muslims who live in America kind of went in vain because of what he did to further distance us from each other,” she said.

Some diplomats also criticized the order. The New York Times reported Tuesday that a dissenting cable from within the State Department had received about 1,000 signatures.

But the action is in line with promises Trump made during the campaign, and has been welcomed by many of his supporters.

Hawaii Island resident Phillip Keuhlen said he took exception with people characterizing the order as a Muslim ban. He said it will make the country safer.

“I think reasonable people can disagree on that, but within my perspective, that is a reasonable trade-off,” Keuhlen said, referring to impacts to immigrants.

Hirota said she disagreed with some comparisons of the order to former President Barack Obama’s 2011 review of vetting procedures for Iraqi immigrants, which slowed admissions.

“That was apples and oranges,” she said, noting it didn’t involve a complete ban on admissions.

A University of Hawaii spokesman said no students or faculty at UH-Hilo were impacted. Impacts at other campuses were still being evaluated.

In a statement, UH President David Lassner said, “We stand in support with the broader higher education community in our concern over the impact of the recent Executive Order on travel on the free flow of information and ideas that is enriched by our international students and scholars.”

Sens. Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono issued statements condemning the order. Gov. David Ige said he expects legal travelers to be welcomed and not “detained unlawfully by the federal government.”

Hilo attorney Newton Chu, who represents employers with immigrant workers, said the order could affect travel plans of immigrants who worry about being detained or other changes being made while they’re abroad.

“Everyone is on red alert right now,” he said. “It’s going to take some time to work itself through.”

West Hawaii Today reporter Max Dible contributed to this report.

Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.