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Michigan resident held for nearly three hours at DTW. Officials seemed to have “no clear guidance"

Protesters and police inside Detroit Metro Airport.
Courtesy of Carey Swanson
Protesters inside the McNamara Terminal at the Detroit Metro Airport. Thousands gathered there on Sunday to oppose President Trump's executive order on immigration.

President Trump continues to defend his immigration order that clamps a temporary ban on U.S. entry for travelers from seven majority-Muslim nations, and refugees from around the world. And he continues to insist it "is not a Muslim ban."

Despite the nationwide protests, the confusion and the mounting questions, Trump said "all is going well."

Lawyers who spent long hours trying to help travelers blindsided by the president's action beg to differ.

Jamil Khuja is one of those attorneys. He went to Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW) to help an Iranian green card holder who had been blocked from re-entering the country.
As far as we know, this man is the only person yet to have been detained at DTW. We tried to confirm exact numbers with Customs and Border Patrol in Michigan, but they did not respond to our request over the weekend.

The man, who declined an interview for fear it would affect his green card renewal status, is originally from Iran. For seven or eight years now, the man has lived in Michigan as a permanent resident.

He was returning home from a work conference in Europe when officials at DTW detained him and proceeded to question him for two and a half hours about his life, his family and more.

Most concerning to Khuja was that officials confiscated the man's phone and inspected his photos and social media accounts.

While the border agents were "very professional," Khuja said they had "no clear guidance" in terms of how to deal with the situation.

For the full interview, including a more detailed description of the incident and Khuja's response to those that say this is the price we pay for security, listen above.

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