CHICAGO (CBS) \u2014 A doctor at Advocate Christ Medical Center who traveled to the United Arab Emirates to get married has now been stranded by the Trump administration\u2019s travel ban, and cannot return to Chicago because he was born in Syria.
At 24 years old, Dr. Amer Al Homssi was looking forward to finishing his internal medicine residency in Chicago, according to his attorney, Thomas Durkin.
However, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing a 90-day ban on travel to the U. S. by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries, U. S. officials cancelled Al Homssi\u2019s visa.
\u201cA diagonal line right through it from corner to corner, and whoever wrote it said it\u2019s cancelled, and then it has the executive order and the number,\u201d Durkin said.
Al Homssi cannot return to the U. S., and cannot stay in the United Arab Emirates, so he might be forced to go back to Syria. Although it is technically his homeland, Al Homssi hasn\u2019t been to Syria since he was 17, Durkin said.
\u201cHe could end up back in Damascus, where he\u2019s never lived, and which is a war zone. It\u2019s an insane Catch-22,\u201d Durkin said.
Al Homssi has filed a federal lawsuit against Trump, the Department of Homeland Security, and U. S. Customs and Border Protection, challenging the president\u2019s executive order. Durkin called the travel ban \u201cabsurd.\u201d
\u201cI believe he\u2019s in this dilemma because he\u2019s a Muslim, pure and simple,\u201d Durkin said of his client. \u201cIt\u2019s a classic \u2018Ugly American\u2019 situation, I think.\u201d
Dr. Zaher Shaloul, a critical care specialist at Advocate Christ, said Al Homssi\u2019s future could be ruined, because \u2013 according to rules already in place before Trump\u2019s order \u2013 he has only one month to return to the residency program, or his position will be eliminated.
\u201cThis is the wrong person to prevent from coming. He\u2019s not a threat to anyone. He\u2019s actually saving lives,\u201d Sahloul said.
Al Homssi\u2019s colleagues came to the courthouse to support him on Wednesday.
\u201cI sent him a message over WhatsApp, just saying \u2018We\u2019re thinking about you. We care about you,\u2019 and that\u2019s about it,\u201d Dr. Arya Nikamal said. \u201cHe says that, \u2018I appreciate it, thank you very much, and hopefully this will be resolved soon.\u2019\u201d
At least one other lawsuit has been filed against the Trump administration in federal court in Chicago.
The second case involves a father who left the country to care for his sick mother in Iran. That man is a legal permanent resident who lives in Chicago with his wife and three kids, but was refused a plane ticket back to the U. S. after Trump signed the travel ban on Friday. His lawyers have identified him only as \u201cJohn Doe.\u201d
Hearings on both lawsuits were scheduled for Wednesday morning at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. Each case has been assigned to a separate judge.<\/p>\n

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