During the chaos that followed the issuance of the travel ban in January and before it was blocked by a court, at least 140 individuals from the seven named countries were denied admission to the U.S. with then-valid visas.

In Darweesh v. Trump, No. 17-CV-480 (CBA), Iraqi nationals challenged the first iteration of President Donald Trump’s January 27 travel ban on the morning after the ban went into the effect, because they were detained and threatened with deportation even though they had valid visas to enter the U.S. That evening, a federal judge in Brooklyn, New York issued an injunction blocking the travel ban. The proposed class action arguably became moot once Iraqis were removed from the list of named countries in the next iteration of the travel ban, issued on March 6th. Nevertheless, the parties have decided to settle.

Under the settlement, the parties agreed to the following:

• The Administration will email in English, Arabic, or Farsi any individuals from the seven countries included in the January 27 travel ban who were barred from entry to the U.S. before the travel ban was enjoined (and who have not returned to the U.S.)

• The email will advise them of their right to reapply for a new visa and include a list of free legal service providers who will assist them with their renewed applications

• The Department of Justice must coordinate the processing of the renewed applications