Among the other travelers held were two Iraqi men who said they feared terrorist retribution for helping American military efforts in Baghdad, according to a writ filed in Brooklyn Federal Court seeking their release.

Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi, 34, and Hameed Khalid Darweesh, 53, arrived at the airport Friday night with the goal of settling in the U.S. with their families under special visas designed to protect Iraqis who faced threats for helping the military effort in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Darweesh was released Saturday afternoon, but federal officials said that 11 other refugees were still being detained at JFK. The Department of Homeland Security's division of Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to confirm that number.

Darweesh, a trained electrical engineer and father of three, worked extensively with the United States government and military in Iraq for 10 years as an interpreter, engineer and contractor, according to a Writ of Habeas Corpus filed in Brooklyn Federal Court. He was heading to North Carolina with his family, who were not detained.

"He was released because it's totally arbitrary," said Becca Heller, a lawyer with the International Refugee Assistant Project. "He got very, very lucky."

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170128/howard-beach/donald-trump-muslim-ban-jfk-kennedy-airport-refugee-refugees