Updated 10:40 a.m., February 7th.
Just Monday morning, The Della Lamb Community Service Agency learned a family of nine scheduled to be resettled in Kansas City last week will now arrive on Wednesday.
The news comes after a federal judge in Washington rescinded President Trump’s travel ban on incoming refugees last Friday night.
Executive Vice President of Della Lamb Judy McGonigle Akers says the family has been awaiting resettlement in a Kenyan refugee camp and was scheduled to occupy a home in northeast Kansas City.
While Akers knows the family’s passage is not guaranteed, she's holding out hope the judge's order will stand.
“We’re hoping this family will be able to come through and start their new beginning in safety,” she said in an interview with KCUR.
In a Twitter flurry after the weekend decision, President Trump blamed Judge James Robart of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for placing America “in peril” by allowing citizens of majority Muslim countries into the United States. He said the U.S. would use “every legal means” to reinstate the executive order banning immigration in the short term.
The Justice Department has until 5 p.m. Central Time to respond.
Meanwhile, Google, Apple and Uber are among almost 100 companies filing motions in support of the court order.
Akers and resettlement officials across the country have been frustrated by the impact of the travel ban, which had immigrants and refugees turned away from airports as they were ready to board flights.
Rallies and protests broke out at airports across the country in response to the ban, including in Kansas City.
At 5 p.m. Central time Tuesday, a federal court in San Francisco will hear arguments on the Trump administration's request to reinstate the travel ban on immigrants and refugees from the seven mostly Muslim countries , as well as its limits to the overall U.S. refugee program.
Amid a flurry of activity in the case over the last couple of days, the court announced it has decided to live-stream the proceedings on the website of the federal court.
Laura Ziegler is a community engagement Reporter and Producer. Follow her on Twitter @laurazig or email her at lauraz@kcur.org.
