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By Isabel Coles | ERBIL, Iraq

ERBIL, Iraq KhudeedaNaif won refuge in the United States as a member of Iraq's Yazidi minority, but what he fears more than religious persecution is retribution for his brother's work as an interpreter for the U.S. army in Iraq.

Naif is one of the many affected by the U.S. President Donald Trump's decision on Friday to temporarily ban the entry of refugees and others from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Naif was scheduled to leave Iraq this week with his wife and two children when the International Organization for Migration (IOM) told him the trip was off until further notice.

The 35-year-old electrical technician will remain instead at a refugee camp in Dohuk, northern Iraq, where he has lived since Islamic State militants overran the Sinjar area in the summer of 2014, purging its Yazidi inhabitants.

The insurgents systematically killed, captured and enslaved thousands of Yazidis, whose beliefs combine elements of several ancient Middle Eastern religions and are regarded by Islamic State as devil-worshippers.

A U.N.-appointed commission of independent war crimes investigators said last year the crimes against the Yazidis amounted to a genocide.

Naif fled across the border to Syria on foot with his immediate family and thousands of other Yazidis before returning to Dohuk.

But the family was afraid for their lives even before the Islamic State started its attacks.

"People came here (to the camp) because there was a threat to the Yazidis in general, but for the people who worked for the Americans we had to be cautious even when we were home," he said, contacted on the phone from the Kurdish capital Erbil.

Trump's executive order bars the admission of people from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

The order said "religious minorities facing persecution in their countries" would be given priority when refugee admissions resume.

More than one hundred Yazidis are waiting for their IOM asylum applications to be processed, Saib Khidr, a prominent Yazidi lawyer and human rights activist close to the Baba Sheikh, the top religious leader of the community.

A Yazidi woman was denied boarding a flight to the United States on Sunday, he said.

Khidr said he had hoped Yazidis would be among those given priority but was concerned that Trump only mentioned the persecution of Syrian Christians when asked about the issue in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network.

"We're disappointed," he told Reuters in Baghdad. "We're waiting for the American side to clarify its position."

Germany, Canada and the United States are usually the top desired destinations for Iraq's Yazidis, Khidr said.

Naif said his brother was killed in a suicide bombing along with two Americans in 2008 when U.S. forces occupied the country from 2003 to 2011.

Although Iraqis working for the Americans use a pseudonym, his brother's identity -- and by extension that of his family -- was revealed when he was killed.

"Eventually, we are going to get killed," Naif said.

Naif's family obtained a refugee visa to join his four sisters, brother and mother in the United States after six months of interviews and medical tests.

Interpreters and translators who worked for the U.S. military and American state agencies in Iraq are eligible to apply to a Special Immigration Visa (SIV).

U.S. consular services are currently processing "fewer than 500" application under the SIV program, said a State Department official. Overall, "more than 20,000 Iraqis have received immigrations benefits" from this program, the official said.

"We hope that he (Trump) changes his mind and at least takes the people who worked with them (the Americans)," Naif said.

"We protected them," he said. "We never expected this."

(Additional reporting by Maher Chmaytelli in Baghdad; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

QUEBEC CITY Two suspects were under arrest after a shooting at a Quebec City mosque on Sunday evening killed six people and wounded eight, police said on Monday, and a source said one was French-Canadian and the other was of Moroccan heritage.

KIEV The number of Ukrainian soldiers killed in an offensive by pro-Russian separatists over the past two days has risen to seven, Ukraine's military said on Monday, in the deadliest outbreak of fighting in the east of the country since mid-December.

MEXICO CITY Israel should apologize for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's praise for U.S. President Donald Trump's plans to build a wall on the Mexican border, Mexico's foreign minister said on Monday, calling it an "aggression" against the country.

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Trump travel ban leaves Iraq's persecuted Yazidis in limbo - Reuters

BAGHDAD Iraq has asked the United States to reconsider the travel ban on its citizens, the foreign ministry said on Monday, taking a more diplomatic line than the Iraqi parliament which had demanded the government "retaliate".

"It is necessary that the new American administration reconsider this wrong decision," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Noting their cooperation in fighting the Islamic State group, the statement added: "We affirm Iraq's desire to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries."

By executive order on Friday, President Donald Trump banned U.S. entry for people from seven Muslim-majority countries Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen and temporarily halted the admission of refugees.

(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed and Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

MEXICO CITY Israel should apologize for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's praise for U.S. President Donald Trump's plans to build a wall on the Mexican border, Mexico's foreign minister said on Monday, calling it an "aggression" against the country.

PARIS French election candidate Francois Fillon and his wife Penelope are being questioned by prosecutors as part of an investigation following press allegations that Penelope Fillon was paid for fake jobs, BFM television said on Monday.

ERBIL, Iraq KhudeedaNaif won refuge in the United States as a member of Iraq's Yazidi minority, but what he fears more than religious persecution is retribution for his brother's work as an interpreter for the U.S. army in Iraq.

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Iraq asks Trump administration to 'reconsider' travel ban - Reuters

LONDON (AP) The Latest on President Donald Trump, his travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries and other immigration actions (all times local):

3:15 p.m.

The foreign minister of Qatar says his country is against President Donald Trump's blanket banning of refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said in Serbia on Monday he hopes U.S. authorities will further assess the move and "we hope that they are going to do the right thing" about it.

Several of those stopped at U.S. airports since Friday are believed to have traveled on flights from Qatar.

The foreign minister says: "When it comes to be addressed in a Muslim framework, I think this is something we will stand against."

The 90-day ban, imposed on Friday, affects travel to the United States by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

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2:45 p.m.

The president of the American University of Beirut has criticized President Donald Trump's executive order to indefinitely bar refugees from Syria and keep individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days.

Fadlo Khuri, a dual Lebanese-American citizen, said in a statement released Monday that the AUB community has watched the fallout at America's airports with "growing concern" in the last 72 hours.

The university is one of the oldest and most prestigious educational institutions in the Middle East.

Khuri says: "We find this action and its implications to be in conflict with the enduring values of liberty and justice for all, which the original framers of the US constitution fought to protect."

Founded in 1866, AUB enrolls around 8,500 students from all over the world.

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2:20 p.m.

Turkey's national airline says it will reimburse passengers who were unable to fly to the United States due to the U.S. ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations.

Turkish Airlines said Monday that customers who could not board their flights would be fully reimbursed and not charged any fines.

The carrier did not say how many Turkish Airlines passengers were affected by the ban.

A company official did not immediately respond to questions from the Associated Press.

The 90-day ban, issued by President Donald Trump on Friday, halts travel to the United States by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

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2:15 p.m.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is renewing her criticism of President Donald Trump's order suspending entry to the U.S. for people from seven Muslim-majority countries and halting refugee admissions.

Merkel said Monday that "the necessary and determined fight against terrorism in no way justifies a general suspicion against people of a certain faith in this case against people of Muslim faith or people with a certain origin."

She added that she believes the U.S. action also "contradicts the basic concept of international help for refugees and international cooperation."

Merkel's words echoed similar comments by her spokesman Sunday, the day after the German leader voiced her regret at the decision during a telephone with Trump.

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1:55 p.m.

Pakistan's interior minister says President Donald Trump's action banning people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States will hurt "global unity against terrorism" and could backfire and "help terrorists achieve their goals."

The minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, also said on Monday that the U.S. administration's measure will "add to the miseries" for the victims of terrorism world over as Muslim countries were the ones most hit by terrorism.

Khan says linking terrorism with Islam is not justifiable since only a few hundred misguided people turn to militancy and defy the message of Islam out of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims.

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2:05 p.m.

An Iraqi lawmaker says the parliament's decision calling for a "reciprocity measure" in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order is non-binding for the Iraqi government.

The deputy parliament speaker, Sheik Humam Hamoudi, says the vote approved in the Iraqi parliament on Monday was "a recommendation" and did not move as a "law."

Hamoudi's statement is echoed by Kirk Sowell, a political and legal analyst focused on Iraq and publisher of the newsletter "Inside Iraqi Politics."

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Sowell says that the Iraqi "parliament absolutely lacks the authority to originate legislation of any kind regulating anything the executive branch does."

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12:40 p.m.

The European Union has vowed it will not discriminate against refugees based on nationality, race or religion and will never choose for isolation and inequality.

EU Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said that the 28-nation bloc is carefully studying the decision of U.S. President Donald Trump to impose a travel ban on refugees to see how much it will impact EU citizens.

Schinas also quoted from a Sunday interview of Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in which he said: "We have to make choices about the world we want to live in. We must choose between isolationism, inequality and national egotism on the one hand. And openness, social equality and strength through solidarity on the other."

In an interview with the German Die Welt, Juncker said that "it is by standing for opening, social equality and solidarity that Europe can credibly act on the world stage to find common forward looking solutions."

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12:15 p.m.

Doctors Without Borders says U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order suspending entry for refugees from Syria into the United States is putting lives in danger.

The Paris-based advocacy group says Trump's order "will effectively keep people trapped in war zones, directly endangering their lives."

Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French-language acronym MSF, called Trump's order "an inhumane act against people fleeing war zones."

It called on the U.S. government to lift the ban, end the exclusion from specific countries, and to restart the resettlement of refugees.

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12:10 p.m.

The U.S. Embassies in London and Berlin have advised people from the seven countries affected by President Donald Trump's travel ban not to seek a visa, or schedule an appointment even if they are a dual nationals.

The statement posted on the London embassy's website on Monday issued the guidance to "aliens from the countries of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen."

It says, "if you are a national, or dual national, of one of these countries, please do not schedule a visa appointment or pay any visa fees at this time."

There has been widespread confusion about whether the ban applied to dual nationals.

The embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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11:55 a.m.

Two lawmakers say that the Iraqi parliament has approved a "reciprocity measure" after U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily banning citizens from Iraq and six other Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.

The measure, adopted by lawmakers at a Monday session of parliament, is to apply to Americans entering Iraq.

Lawmakers Kamil al-Ghrairi and Mohammed Saadoun told The Associated Press that decision is binding for the government. Both say the decision was passed by a majority votes in favor but couldn't offer specific numbers. No further details were available on the wording of the parliament decision.

It was also not immediately clear who the ban will apply to American military personnel, non-government and aid workers, oil companies and other Americans doing business in Iraq.

It was also not known if and how the Iraqi measure would affect cooperation in the fight against the Islamic State group in Mosul.

Trump's order includes a 90-day ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, and a 120-day suspension of the U.S. refugee program.

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11:20 a.m.

A spokesman for the German foreign ministry says "tens of thousands" of people are likely to be affected by the recent U.S. travel ban.

An executive order issued Friday by U.S. President Donald Trump temporarily restricts entry to America of people from seven majority-Muslim countries.

Foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer says Germany is trying to understand the practical implications for its citizens who also hold a passport from one of the affected countries. He told reporters in Berlin on Monday that Germany hoped to receive further "clarity" from Washington in the coming hours.

Chancellor Angela Merkel had expressed regret Sunday about Trump's decision, but refrained from condemning it.

Her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Monday that Merkel intended to "work for a good German-American relationship."

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11:00 a.m.

British Prime Minister Theresa May's office says that a state visit to Britain by U.S. President Donald Trump later this year will go ahead, despite increasing calls for it to be canceled over his temporary ban on residents of seven majority-Muslim countries entering the U.S.

Her office says "an invitation has been extended and accepted."

No date has been announced for the state visit, which involves lavish pomp and ceremony, often with a stay at Buckingham Palace hosted by Queen Elizabeth II.

An online petition on a government website has attracted more than 1 million signatures opposing the trip. Protests against the travel ban are planned Monday in London and other British cities.

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10:50 a.m.

Iran's senior vice president is calling President Trump's executive order on travel and visa process ban "illegal, inhumane and against human rights."

The official IRNA news agency Monday quotes Ishaq Jahangiri as saying the order should be reviewed at the international level.

Jahangiri says: "We will definitely take stance against this illegal, inhumane and anti-human-rights activity in international bodies. And once again (we) will review and explore American human rights in international bodies in order to let the world to know what a system they are facing."

He did not elaborate.

The executive order suspended issuing visas for people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen for at least 90 days.

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10:40 a.m.

The world's largest body of Islamic nations has told The Associated Press that it has "grave concern" over U.S. President Donald Trump's order banning travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries.

The 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation issued a statement Monday to the AP warning that "such selective and discriminatory acts will only serve to embolden the radical narratives of extremists and will provide further fuel to the advocates of violence and terrorism."

It called upon the U.S. to "reconsider this blanket statement and maintain its moral obligation to provide leadership and hope at a time of great uncertainty and unrest in the world."

The 90-day ban, imposed Friday, affects travel to the U.S. by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. All are OIC members.

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10:30 a.m.

Air France has blocked 15 passengers from Muslim countries from traveling to the U.S. because they would have been refused entry under President Donald Trump's new immigration ban.

Air France said in a statement it was informed Saturday by the U.S. government of the new restrictions, and had no choice but to stop the passengers from boarding U.S.-bound flights.

An airline spokeswoman said Monday that the passengers were taken back to their point of departure or otherwise taken care of. She would not provide the passengers' names, nationalities or other details.

The passengers were from seven Muslim-majority countries affected by the three-month immigration ban: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

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The Latest: Iraq lawmakers says ban on Americans not binding - Yahoo Finance

Vermont Air National Guard members deployed overseas in December are participating in a campaign to drive ISIS from Mosul, Iraq. ADAM SILVERMAN/FREE PRESS

Staff Sgt. Larry Runk, 407th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron crew chief, walks away from an F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 134th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron after marshaling it for takeoff at the 407th Air Expeditionary Group in December.(Photo: Master Sgt. Benjamin Wilson/U.S. Air Force)

Vermont Air National Guard members deployed overseas in December are participating in a campaign to drive the Islamic State group from Mosul, Iraq, according to the Defense Department.

F-16 pilots with the South Burlington-based 158th Fighter Wing "delivered combat airpower" for Iraqi ground forces within 15 hours of arriving in the Middle East on Dec. 10, the military disclosed in a recent online post about a generals review of U.S. troops.

The battle to retake Mosul Iraqs second-largest city, with a population of more than a million residents began in October, two years after Islamic State militants captured the area. Vermonters have been involved in battles for Mosul since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, and two soldiers with Vermont ties have been killed there.

In late January, Iraqi ground forces, with support from U.S.-led coalition air strikes, captured Mosuls eastern sector from IS fighters. Militants still control the citys western half.

About 300 airmen with the Vermont Guard received an unusually short 30 daysnotice before deploying to the region Dec. 7. Guard commanders previously have said the mission was to take on the IS group in Iraq and Syria, but the militarys recent post marked the first time the exact nature and location of the Vermonters mission was made public.

A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon, assigned to the 134th Fighter Squadron, 158th Fighter Wing, Vermont National Guard, takes off from Burlington International Airport in South Burlington in December 2016. Airmen from the 158th and a squadron of F-16s from the 134th deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve to fight the Islamic State group.(Photo: Tech. Sgt. Sarah Mattison/U.S. Air National Guard)

"We got a tasking to get out here, get these jets ready. Typically for a Guard unit, thats about a year process," Lt. Col. Brian Lepine of the Vermont Air Guard said in a Defense Department video.

Guard members originally were scheduled to have several days in the Middle East to set up and test equipment before entering combat, but the schedule accelerated at the request of the host nation, Lepine said.

"In less than 15 hours, we were asked to produce combat-effective aircraft and put it over the targets," he said. Airmen hurried to prepare two of the unit's F-16s. "And we haven't let up since. It's been sortie after sortie after sortie."

The unit is expecting to "run continuous operations for the next couple months," said Lepine, who lives in Essex Junction.

The full unit, known as the 134th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, also includes forces from Alabama, New Jersey and Wisconsin.

Staff Sgt. Larry Runk, 407th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron crew chief, speaks with a pilot assigned to the 134th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron through his headset during preflight checks. Runk is a member of the Vermont-based 158th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard.(Photo: Master Sgt. Benjamin Wilson/U.S. Air Force)

One of the F-16 pilots, Capt. "Cash" Shaner, said in the video he'd never heard of a unit's joining the fight so quickly after arrival.

"Weve worked very hard to fit in to the broader mission in this region," said Shaner, who is on his first combat deployment.

Vermont Guard spokeswoman Capt. Dyana Allen said Friday the mission is going well. "Everybody's in good spirits, and morale is high," she said.

There have been no casualties, saidCapt. Tracy Morris, spokeswoman for 158th Fighter Wing.

"Everybody has been professional, proficient, working very very hard, working 16 hours, 18 hours a day," she said. "Really everything that we train for is what they have been doing."

Maj. Gen. Steven Cray and other command staff visited the deployed airmen in early January, where they joined Lt. Gen. Scott Rice, director of the Air National Guard, to recognize the service members and pose for photos. The Vermont airmen are based outside of Iraq.

The Vermont Guard's deployment is expected to continue until late February or early March. Morris said the unit has yet to receive orders specifying when the mission will end.

Mosul is in northern Iraq, near the borders of Syria and Turkey.

Despite progress in the battle for Mosul, Iraqi military commanders say they expect the threat from Islamic State to continue, even in liberated parts of the city. Militants are known to shave their traditional beards and try to blend in before they strike again.

Staff Sgt. Larry Runk, 407th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron crew chief, speaks with a pilot assigned to the 134th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron through his headset during preflight checks at the 407th Air Expeditionary Group in December.(Photo: Master Sgt. Benjamin Wilson/U.S. Air Force)

Islamic State is a militant group that broke with the terrorist organization al-Qaida and has taken control of large portions of Iraq and Syria. IS overran Mosul in 2014.

The two Vermont soldiers killed in Mosul were Army Capt. Pierre Piche, 29, of Starksboro in a helicopter crash in 2003, and Maine National Guard Spc. Christopher D. Gelineau, 23, who graduated from Mount Abraham Union High School in Bristol, in an ambush in 2004.

In all, 41 service members with ties to Vermont have been killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003.

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Contributing: USA TODAY and the AP. Contact Adam Silverman at802-660-1854 or asilverman@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at@wej12.

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NASHVILLE JOINS PROTESTS OVER TRUMP IMMIGRATION POLICYImmigration protest in Nashville | 1:19

Hundreds gather outside Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker's offices to protest President Trump's new immigration executive order banning immigrants from several countries. George Walker IV / The Tennssean

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Jack Willey says he was hit by motorist along West End Ave. during an immigration protest against President Trump's executive order to ban immigration from certain countries. George Walker IV / The Tennessean

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Nashvillians take to the street to protest President Donald Trump's executive order suspending immigration from seven Muslim countries on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017. Stacey Barchenger / The Tennessean

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Nashvillians take to the street to protest President Donald Trump's executive order suspending immigration from seven Muslim countries on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017. Stacey Barchenger / The Tennessean

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For the second day in a row after President Trump signed an executive order banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations, protesters gathered by the hundreds and flooded their local airports. USA TODAY NETWORK

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Shortly after signing documents in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump said his crackdown on refugees and citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries "is not a Muslim ban." (Jan. 28) AP

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Vanderbilt PhD student Mohammad Meerzaei and his wife, Azadeh Najafian, speak at their home in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017. Najafian was recently in Iran but rushed back home before Trump signed an immigrant travel ban. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean

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US President Donald Trump's executive order suspending refugee arrivals for at least 120 days and barring visas from seven Muslim countries has lost its first legal battle after a federal judge ordered detainees at US airports be released. Video provided by AFP Newslook

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Tech companies had strong responses to Donald Trump's executive order banning immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S., and some took action in response. USA TODAY

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Activists protested on Saturday the detention of two Iraqi citizens at New York City's JFK airport, one day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the US. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES Video provided by AFP Newslook

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Hear the chants protesters belted out at San Francisco International Airport on behalf of refugees banned under President Trump's executive order on immigration. USA TODAY NETWORK

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Olympic runner Mo Farah says President Trump's restrictive immigration plan has made him an outsider in America. Time Sports

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Fuad Suleman, center, with his wife and three children arrive back in Erbil, Iraq, after officials at Cairo International Airport told the family they could not continue on a connecting flight to New York's JFK Airport on their way to Nashville Jan. 28, 2017. Instead, they were sent back to Iraq.(Photo: Submitted)

A Kurdish family of five on their way to Nashville were stopped in Cairo before they could board their connecting flight Saturday after President Donald Trump's travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries.

Fuad SharefSuleman, his wife, Arazoo Ibrahim, and their three children were escorted from Cairo International Airport back to Iraq, even though they had valid visas to enter the United States, Suleman said.

Suleman called the executive order an act ofracism and discrimination.

"I did not know the president can sign such orders," he said."Because it looks like those autocratic leaders in corrupt countries, not in a democratic modern country like America."

Suleman and hisfamily arenow stranded with no home and no transportation after havingalready sold their house, most of their belongings and their vehicles.Suleman quit his job ata pharmaceutical company, Ibrahim resigned from her position asa kindergarten teacher and their children, ages 10-19,left their schools.

They're staying in a family member'shouse until they figure out what to do next.

Trump signed an executive order Friday banning legal travel by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan,Libya,Somaliaand Yemen for at least three months. The order also suspendsthe U.S.Refugee Resettlement Program for at least four months. After the initial bans, the nation will only accepttravelers from countries with sufficient safeguards to ensure the security and welfare of the United States.

Syrian refugees are barred indefinitely.

Suleman used to work as a regional translator for RTI International, a research organization with a contract through aU.S. government agencythat works to end extreme global poverty and promote democracy abroad. Because those who workwith the American government in Iraq are in mortal danger fromgroups like the Islamic State, Suleman and his family weregivenspecial immigrant visas to come to the United States.

Erbil, where the family is from, is in Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous region in Northern Iraq. Kurdistanis home to the Kurdish Peshmergaone of theU.S. military's most reliable alliesin the fightagainst ISIS.

Nashville has the largest population of ethnic Kurds in the United States, with estimates ranging from 12,000 to 17,000. The number is difficult to pinpoint because it's not measured by the U.S. Census. Many of the American Kurds came as refugees during the early '90s after Saddam Hussein attacked them using chemical weapons.

In a statement, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry said hearing of this familyreminded her ofthe Suleymans, a Kurdish refugee family Nashville welcomed more than three decades ago. Jiyayi Suleyman was the first American Kurdhired by the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department.

"I know that our city would have embraced and welcomed this family just as we did the Suleymans in 1991 and so many other immigrant and refugee families before and since," Barry said."This arbitrary ban on individuals from certain countries entering the United States is wrong in every way."

Sen. Steve Dickerson, R-Nashville, said Sunday that while he'd like to see a review of the federal refugee policy and immigration policy, Trump's order goes too far.

"Nashville and Davidson County have long been home to refugees. They make our community stronger and embody the American Dream to the fullest," he said in a statement. "A full ban, based on country of origin, is contrary to bedrock American values, and, in the end, will only serve to empower our enemies abroad."

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Suleman, 51,said he chose Nashville because of its Kurdish community and because he has friends who live here.

"And I read on the internet that Nashville is a growing city, quality of life is goodthere, jobs are available, crime rates are very, very low, so these are points that encouraged me to choose Nashville," he said.

Cairo officials told Suleman that the U.S. embassy in Baghdad sent a message to officials there that the family were not allowed in the U.S., he said.

"When I was looking at the faces of my wife, my children, they were about to faint," he said. "They turned pale, and I told them to sit down and drink some water. It was a terrible moment."

Fuad Suleman's wife and three children wait at Cairo International Airport after being told they cannot continue on a connecting flight to New York's JFK Airport on their way to Nashville Jan. 28, 2017.(Photo: Submitted)

Trump reaffirmed his decision Sunday on Twitter: "Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world a horrible mess!"

And Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., lauded Trump's order as "responsible," sayingthat U.S. intelligence agencies need time to "ascertain the scope of the Islamic terror threat in order to develop proper refugee vetting protocols if possible."

Suleman described himself as a secular family man who loves the diversity of Americaand said hehates extremists who use religion to justifykilling people.

But he isn't very happy with Trump either.

"How do you see all people Imean the whole nation in a certain country all at the same level?" he said."No, this is not correct. This is not the right way to deal with people."

Reach Ariana Sawyer at asawyer@tennessean.com or on Twitter @a_maia_sawyer. USA TODAY also contributed to this report.

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