The Cleveland Clinic internal medicine resident caught up in President Donald Trump’s immigration ban is now back in Cleveland. Dr. Suha Abushamma arrived back in the U.S. Monday after being detained at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport late last month and deported to Saudi Arabia.
At a press conference in the Omni Hotel at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Abushamma was surrounded by fellow doctors and her legal team. In a short statement, she thanked everyone for their help.
“I’m beyond grateful to the entire team of individuals who worked so hard on my case. I especially want to thank this group of lawyers who put their time and energy into getting me back home.”
On Jan. 28, Abushamma was detained for 10 hours at JFK after returning from visiting family in Saudi Arabia. She was forced to leave the U.S. because her passport is from Sudan, where she went to school and was a citizen. Sudan is one of seven countries on Trump’s immigration ban.
Her attorneys were able to get back into the U.S. after a federal judge blocked the president’s immigration ban. They say she will drop a lawsuit claiming she was coerced by immigration officials into signing forms cancelling her work visa.
