Client of Villanova lawyer caught up in travel ban

VILLANOVA, Pa. (WPVI) -- President Donald Trump's executive order banning travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries for 90 days directly impacted the client of a Villanova lawyer.

As protesters jammed the Philadelphia International Airport, Professor Caitlyn Barry was trying to meet with her client, who was just one of several passengers detained because of where they had been born.

"I was told that my client had no right to have an attorney and I would not be permitted to speak with him. He was also not permitted to speak with family," Barry said.

Her client possessed what had been a valid immigration visa, but with the stroke of the president's pen Friday it was no longer acceptable.

Barry says he was one of four at PHL facing immediate deportation.

"I was only told by Homeland Security that this group of people would be put back on to a plane and forced to leave the United States," she said.

As protesters chanted, lawyers worked and a judge in New York issued a stay. The Feds backed off, but not before the four spent a night in the Delaware County jail.

"They were placed in prison cells there and left overnight. And Sunday morning returned to the airport and freed to go on their way," said Barry.

The controversial travel ban also impacted a University of Delaware Student. Kimia Ahmadizadeh is studying for a masters in genetics, her husband a Ph.D. candidate in Engineering.

His mother was coming from Iran to see the couple's four-month-old. She was to have arrived last weekend but never left.

"She was so excited. She was so happy that she's coming to visit stuff, and all the family was gathered in the house to help her collect the stuff," Ahmadizadeh said.

The ACLU is planning a news conference at Philadelphia City Hall on Tuesday to discuss what they are going to do next.