The State Department has responded to reports that more than 100,000 people had their visas revoked following Donald Trump’s controversial immigration ban, saying that number was actually fewer than 60,000, the Associated Press reports.
Erez Reuveni, a lawyer from the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation, said on Friday that more than 100,000 valid visas had been canceled, during a hearing about a lawsuit filed by two Yemeni brothers who were denied access to the US last Saturday. The State Department rebukes that claim, however, saying that due to expired visas and the types of visas that were exempted from the ban, that number was actually closer to 60,000 or fewer.
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Reuveni made the claim at a hearing about Tareq and Ammar Aqel Mohammed Aziz, who had arrived to Dulles Airport on Saturday, had been convinced to give up their visas, and then were put on a plane back to Ethiopia. Airports around the country were plagued by chaos over the weekend, after Trump signed an executive order placing a temporary ban on all refugees and people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.
“It’s quite clear that not all the thought went into it that should have gone into it,” Judge Leonie Brinkema, who is presiding over the brothers’ suit, said about the immigration ban on Friday.
According to the Post, the government is reviewing a host of similar lawsuits brought on by people who were denied entry to the country, like Tareq and Ammar, and some are being offered new visas if they agree to drop their lawsuits.
