Visiting Professor Fights E.O. 59447v.8 on Behalf of Syrian Doctor

Note: On Thursday, February 2, Dr. Amer Al Homssi arrived at Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, after his return from the United Arab Emirates. Read more about his return: A Syrian Doctor Returns to Illinois.

According to the lawsuit filed by Bernard Harcourt, Visiting Professor in the School of Social Science, and legal colleagues: “When Dr. Al Homssi looked at his passport, he noticed that the J-1 visa page had been marked diagonally with a fat black marker pen drawn through it, and in blue pen along that black mark, it was written: ‘Cancelled E.O. 59447v.8.’ ”

“He’s in a more precarious position because he’s on a J-1 visa—a medical-residency visa for work—than someone who’s a permanent resident,” Harcourt told [the New Yorker's Jennifer Gonnerman]. “I imagine there are a lot of people in similar situations, but we’re probably not hearing from them because they were so brutally deterred at the border.”

Since the article was published, Dr. Amer Al Homssi has been cleared to enter the U.S. and had boarded a flight in Abu Dhabi.