After a trip to Turkey to visit her ailing father, Mayasah Witwit returned to Los Angeles International Airport, eager to reunite with her husband and four children.
Witwit and her family have made their home in Westminster since fleeing Iraq last year as refugees. The adjustment has been made more difficult by her battle with advanced-stage breast cancer.
But as she made her way through LAX on Sunday, customs officials stopped her and placed her in a “special room,” where she waited with 20 to 30 others.
“You are from Iraq,” the customs officers told Witwit. “You can’t enter.”
Since President Trump’s sweeping travel restrictions were imposed Friday, temporarily halting those from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S., dozens of others like Witwit have stepped off planes in Southern California and found themselves facing federal immigration authorities.
At LAX, they were forced to wait, sometimes for more than 24 hours: an Iraqi grandmother seeing her daughter for the first time in nearly two decades. A 78-year-old Iranian woman visiting nine of her children, all U.S. citizens. A Syrian-born businessman who planned to tour farms with co-workers.
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Supporters of President Trump rally in favor of his immigration ban executive order Saturday at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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Protesters rallying against the first travel ban signed by President Trump march around Los Angeles International Airport in February. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Trump supporters gather at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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Muhaned El Hindi protests the immigration ban Saturday during a rally at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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Mathew Woods, a supporter of President Trump, voices support for an immigration ban during a rally at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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Passengers stand in the doorway of a baggage claim area to take pictures and video of marchers protesting the immigration ban of President Trump at LAX on Saturday.
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Supporters of President Trump’s travel ban stand across the street from the #NoBanNoWall protesters at LAX on Saturday.
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Cooper Chvotkin, 6, gets a turn to voice his opinion on the megaphone with other protesters at LAX on Saturday.
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Protesters march through the Tom Bradley International terminal at LAX on Saturday to protest President Trump’s travel ban.
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Abeer Abdelrahman, left, hugs her sister Areej Ali at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX on Monday after Ali, who has a green card, was able to come through the arrivals area with the help of an attorney after being detained and questioned. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Noor Hindi, left, and Sham Najjar, right, join the protest at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday.
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Attorney’s crowd a small table at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX on Monday to assist travelers who require help due to President Trump’s travel restrictions.
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Immigration Attorney Monica Glicken, left, listens to Mohamed, right, as she tries to find travelers to help at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX on Monday to assist travelers who require help due to President Trump’s travel restrictions.
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Hundreds of people protested President Trump’s original travel ban at LAX in January. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters block traffic at LAX, stranding motorists at the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
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Demonstrators take a pizza break while blocking traffic on the upper level of the Tom Bradley International Terminal while police monitor the rally.
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A pro-Trump supporter argues with protesters about the president’s travel ban at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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Hundreds sit in on the arrival level of LAX’s Tom Bradley International Terminal, blocking traffic to protest President Trump’s immigration order.
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Airport police plead with protesters to get off the pavement in order to let stranded motorists exit.
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Protesters block traffic, stranding motorists at the Tom Bradley International Terminal of LAX.
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Muslims pray as hundreds stand in support on the departure level of the Tom Bradley International Terminal during a protest against President Trump’s immigration order. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Police position themselves as a man takes photos on the on the departure level of the Tom Bradley International Terminal during protests to President Donald Trump’s new immigration order.
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Hundreds block traffic on the arrival level of the Tom Bradley International Terminal to protest President Trump’s immigration order.
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People gather at the Tom Bradley International Terminal to protest against President Trump’s immigration order.
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A police officer watches protesters at the lower deck of the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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People gather at the Tom Bradley International Terminal to protest President Trump’s immigration order.
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Assmaa Kalm, left, and Rosanna Sounbl, right, protest President Trump’s travel ban at Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 29, 2017. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Hundreds block traffic on the arrival level of the Tom Bradley International Terminal to protest President Trump’s immigration order.
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Police keep an eye on people who continue to protest at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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Hundreds take part in an impromptu sit-in at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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People hang a banner in support of immigrants on a parking structure across the street from the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Meg Heatherly, 27, of Los Angeles holds a “Shame” sign during a protest at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX on Jan. 29, 2017. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Attorney Lisa Smith joins people at LAX who continue to protest President Trump’s travel ban.
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A lone supporter of President Trump and Vice President Pence is protected by police while a large group of people continue to protest President Donald Trump’s travel ban at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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Chella, from Sherman Oaks, holds the U.S. flag with words from the tablet on the Statue of Liberty.
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Hundreds of people gather at Los Angeles International Airport to continue protesting President Trump’s travel ban.
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Donald Trump supporters hold signs across the road from protesters at Tom Bradley International Terminal.
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A traveler tries to get by protesters at the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
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Brothers Adam, left, and Noah Reich show their support of immigrants as they join opponents of Donald Trump’s new immigration order at the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
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A traveler tries to get by protesters at Tom Bradley International Terminal.
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A protester holds up sign at the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
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Hassan Al Garaawi, of San Diego, right, looks for his mother-in-law Gish Alsaeedi who has been detained at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX on Sunday.
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Passengers arrive at LAX as protests continue Sunday over President Trump’s travel ban.
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Izzy Berdan, of Boston wears an American flag as he chants slogans with other demonstrators Sunday during a rally against President Trump’s order that restricts travel to the U.S. by people from seven majority-Muslim nations.
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People gather in Boston’s Copley Square to protest the travel ban enacted by President Trump.
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Demonstrators gather Sunday near the White House to protest President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
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People continue to protest President Trump’s travel ban on Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport.
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Attorney Dana Clausen waits on Sunday to help at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX as people continue to protest President Trump’s executive order that led to travelers from several majority-Muslim countries being detained upon arrival.
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Kamryn Taghizadeh, 18, holds up a sign Saturday night as she waits for grandfather Reza Taghizadeh, 78, a minimalist painter who was detained as he arrived at Tom Bradley International Terminal from Iran. The artist and green-card holder was later released.
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Reza Taghizadeh, 78, an artist from Iran who holds a U.S. green card, is released after being detained at Tom Bradley International Terminal.
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Seattle police use pepper spray and push the last group of protesters out of a Seattle-Tacoma International Airport terminal after giving a final dispersal order at about 2 a.m Sunday.
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Saffiya Hrahsheh, center, is helped away from police by Liz Bates, left, and others after being pepper sprayed by officers breaking up protests early Sunday at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
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Siavosh Naji-Talakar greets his grandmother, Marzieh Moosavizadeh, 75, at LAX’s Tom Bradley International Terminal. She was detained upon arriving from Iran.
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People arrive and LAPD officers stand by at Tom Bradley International Airport at LAX as the protest continues peacefully.
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Protesters gather at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX to oppose President Trump’s refugee ban.
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Saudia Airlines flight attendants wait to pass through a securioty checkpoint at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX on Saturday.
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Protesters rally against Trump’s refugee crackdown at at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX on Saturday.
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Protesters gather at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX to speak out against President Trump’s refugee policy Saturday.
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Protesters march through Tom Bradley International Terminal to voice opposition to President Trump’s refugee policy.
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Protesters rally against the new immigration order at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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Protesters hold signs during a protest against Trump’s immigration executive order at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.
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Protesters assemble at John F. Kennedy International Airport after two Iraqis were detained while trying to enter the country.
(Craig Ruttle / Associated Press) The process has been marked by secrecy, and untold numbers have been deported. Outraged protesters converged at LAX and other airports all weekend, and a crowd of demonstrators returned there Monday to renounce Trump’s order.
It’s difficult to tabulate the number of those who were held in LAX and for how long, and harder still to determine how many were deported. Federal officials have not provided statistics on those held or deported, despite repeated requests.
Some, such as Sara Yarjani, were pressured to void their visas, an allegation echoed by immigration attorneys.
Yarjani was held for 20 hours at LAX and told that unless she voided her student visa, she would be deported and face a five-year ban from reentering the U.S., according to a statement issued by her and a professor at California Institute for Human Science, where she is enrolled.
She signed the withdrawal papers, and only then was she allowed to use a phone, said the professor, Ji Hyang Padma. Next, she was ushered by armed officers to a plane bound for Oslo, Norway, and eventually arrived in Austria, where her family lives.
“As one professor said, Sara is no more a terrorist than the gold fish in our office. She’s spiritually oriented and nice to be around,” said Padma, who directs the comparative religions program at the Encinitas-based institute. “She simply wants to go back to school.”
As of Sunday night, U.S. Customs and Border Protection had processed all cases of individuals initially affected by Trump’s order at airports around the nation, according to Gillian Christensen, acting spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security. Christensen, however, said in an email that she was unsure whether additional travelers were being processed on Monday.
Officials have clarified that green-card holders from the affected countries would face additional checks when returning from trips abroad, but suggested they would not be denied entry unless a problem arose.
Areej Ali, a green-card holder, experienced the additional scrutiny firsthand Monday, when she returned to California from her native Sudan.
Ali, 33, had boarded a plane in Khartoum on Sunday and was detained in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after a connecting flight. Her sister said she was nearly sent back to Sudan.
If not for a letter sent to the airline Ali was traveling on by a lawyer that her family had hired Sunday — a letter that explained Ali should be cleared for entry — Ali wouldn’t have been released from Saudi Arabia, her family said.
The missive had news releases attached to it stating that the ban did not apply to green-card holders.
“We were desperate as they were threatening to deport her in less than four hours,” said attorney Courtney Black, adding that she had also prepared a court petition on Ali’s behalf.
After Ali arrived, she texted her sister that she was being held for questioning. After about 90 minutes, Ali emerged from the terminal and instantly fell into an embrace with her family.
“Never in a million years did I imagine something like this would happen,” said Ali, a software developer. She said part of her trip to Sudan was to obtain a Sudanese passport as part of the process to gain her U.S. citizenship. “This is home for me.”
The branch of the American Civil Liberties Union in Southern California had filed court papers calling for some detainees to be released.
Among them were Khanon Azad, 78, who arrived Saturday afternoon from Iran and was initially pressured to sign papers withdrawing her application to get into the U.S., according to court papers.
Gishh Alsaeedi, 82, was detained for hours after traveling from Baghdad. She had never met any of her six grandchildren who live here and had not seen her daughter in 19 years, according to court papers.
Both women, along with about five others, were eventually let go, according to the ACLU.
For Witwit, the Iraqi refugee, the time in limbo made her wonder whether she’d see her children again. She was offered water and the chance to use the restroom, but unable to take medication for her breast cancer. It was stored in her luggage.
Immigration lawyers caught wind of her medical needs and a lawyer began reaching out to Customs and Border Protection officials. Eventually, after about six hours, she was released.
Her family is still not sure why she was allowed to leave — the officers didn’t clearly explain, they said. After she got out of the room, Witwit said, her voice breaking, she went straight to her children and hugged them.
kate.mather@latimes.com
Twitter: @KateMather
maya.lau@latimes.com
Twitter: @MayaLau
matt.hamilton@latimes.com
Twitter: @MattHjourno
Times staff writer Brittny Mejia contributed to this report.
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